Israel to give more than 1 million vaccine doses to Palestinians
In order to accelerate the supply of COVID-19 vaccines to the Palestinians, Israel started transferring 1 million Pfizer doses.
The office of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett issued a joint statement June 18 with the Ministry of Health saying Israel plans to soon transfer some 1 million Pfizer coronavirus vaccine doses to the Palestinians.
The statement said Israel would transfer doses that are about to expire, and that in exchange, in September and October, Israel would receive shipments of Pfizer vaccines that were originally meant to go to the Palestinians. “The plan was approved based on the fact that Israel’s current vaccine stockpile is sufficient for its current needs,” the statement said.
Shortly after the statement, the Israel Defense Forces unit responsible for liaison with the Palestinians published a short video, showing boxes of vaccines being transferred to Palestinian hands. The post further said that 100,000 doses were transferred June 18 to the Palestinian Health Ministry, as part of the agreement reached between both sides.
The move was agreed upon June 17 during a meeting of new Israeli Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz with senior Health Ministry officials and other official representatives. It comes after Israel faced intense criticism from rights groups at home and internationally and from medical professionals for its failure to significantly assist the Palestinians in the battle against the coronavirus.
