The United States of America (USA) has announced that it will give 15 million dollars to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to help them fight against Covid-19.
This represents a sharp turn compared to the administration of former US President Donald Trump, who denied them almost all aid.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said last night at a meeting of the UN Security Council that money from the US Agency for International Development will support Catholic Relief Services' efforts against covid-19 in health facilities and to help vulnerable families in the West Bank. and in the Gaza Strip.
In addition, efforts to provide food due to shortages caused by the pandemic will be supported.
As stated, "this urgent, necessary aid is part of a renewed commitment to the Palestinian people" that will also "bring greater stability and security to both Israelis and Palestinians."
While President Trump was the US president, the country provided unprecedented support to Israel, recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state, moved its embassy there from Tel Aviv and abandoned the position that Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal.
Last year, however, it gave $XNUMX million in aid to the Palestinians during the pandemic.
Shortly after the inauguration of US President Joseph Biden on January 20, his administration announced the restoration of relations with the Palestinians and aid to Palestinian refugees, which is a new key element in renewed support for a two-state solution to the conflict.
UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland (Wennesland) told the UN Security Council that "covid continues to have a devastating effect on the Palestinian territories", and that living conditions are greatly impaired due to the impact on health, the introduction of restrictions, the closure of schools and the reduction of commercial activity.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health started immunization against the corona virus last week with the first of 61.400 doses that arrived through the COVAX initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO). Until then, the Palestinian Authority had provided only 10.000 Russian Sputnik V vaccines and 2.000 Moderna vaccines from Israel to the approximately three million Palestinians living in the West Bank. The Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since the Islamic extremist Hamas seized power in the territory by force in 2007, received 80.000 vaccines, mostly Russian, from the rival of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Muhammad Dahlan, who lives in the United Arab Emirates. UN officials and human rights organizations have said that Israel, as the occupying power, is responsible for vaccinating the Palestinian population, which the country has argued it has no such responsibility under the interim peace accords. However, over the past few weeks, Israel has vaccinated more than 100.000 Palestinians from the West Bank who have work permits in the Jewish state and in Jewish settlements.
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