Hamas condemns Israel for blocking Covid-19 vaccines to Gaza

IslamNews – Hamas blasted Israel’s refusal to allow some 2,000 coronavirus vaccine doses destined for Gaza health workers through its blockade of the territory as a “violation” of international law.

Israel’s move marked “a real crime and a violation of all international laws and humanitarian standards,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said.

The Palestinian Authority, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, had planned to send the Russian Sputnik V doses through Israel to Gaza, a separate territory run by Islamist movement Hamas. But , the PA health ministry said Israel had blocked the delivery.

COGAT, the Israeli military department that runs civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, said Monday that the PA had requested to transfer 1,000 vaccine doses to Gaza but that “this request is waiting for a political decision”.

The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday urged the World Health Organization to “condemn Israel” for the obstruction.

The PA called on the WHO and other international organisations “to hold (Israel) fully responsible for the dangers arising from preventing the entry of vaccines into the Gaza Strip,” spokesman Ibrahim Melhem said.

Source: France 24