Coronavirus makes the daily lives of Palestinians even more unbearable
- The epidemic is spreading in both the West Bank and Gaza, where there are a total of about 95 people infected and killed, according to official data from 26 March. The occupations and blockades imposed by Israel only make the situation worse. Palestinians will have great difficulty in dealing with the coronavirus epidemic.
In the West Bank there are 86 people infected with coronavirus and one died, and in Gaza there are nine infected, according to official data of 26 March. Palestinians have the threat of coronavirus in their reality and are concerned: Because the Israeli occupation and blockade are going to make it more difficult to deal with the disease. For example, Israel blocks the import of components for the production of disinfectant products among the eleven types of blockades. “The question is not whether the epidemic will spread in Gaza, but when it will spread,” said Majdi Dohaire, of the Ministry of Health. Two million Palestinians are overcrowded in a strip of 40 kilometres of land. “The epidemic will spread like a fire: Gaza will become a hell,” Le Monde explained.
Health workers are in a delicate situation and already have difficulties in dealing with the situation of each day. They could not respond to the coronavirus epidemic by maintaining the current situation. Thus, citizens are confined to limit the spread of the virus to the maximum. However, confinement in closed houses is not easy in large quantities, without drinking water or with limited electricity. Schools, mosques, restaurants, companies and markets have all the public spaces closed and the borders are open exclusively to commercial products. In a context in which 60 per cent of Gaza ' s youth are unemployed, the situation will worsen further as a result of confinement.
Gaza has opened 21 health centres to secure the quarantine of people who are sick, but are not guaranteed health security. The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs has sparked alarm: on 24 March, 1,400 centres were concentrated, with a shortage of water and few health supplies. The risk of spreading the virus is also high in these areas.
West Bank in a state of emergency since 5 March
On 5 March, the Palestinian National Authority (ANP) also declared a state of emergency in the West Bank for one month. Citizens have to be at home and only minimal services are insured: pharmacies, health centres, bakeries and supermarkets. Tourism is also prohibited.
Concerned about Palestinian prisoners
Concern to know that there are coronavirus infected prisoners in several Israeli prisons has increased. Although patients are in quarantine, overpopulation in prisons causes the virus to spread quickly. A number of non-governmental organizations have regretted that no measures have been taken to ensure health security in prisons and, moreover, have tightened the living conditions of prisoners: dozens of products, including medical devices, banned food, family visits cancelled, etc. Israel has rejected the release of prisoners, children and the sick, who are in prison. Since the beginning of the month, prisoners have been protesting to demand health security and denounce increased discrimination and repression in the context of the coronavirus.
They have denied the concentrations and demonstrations called for next week on the occasion of the Great March of Return. The Palestinian authorities have called on the population to stay at home for sexual assault. As a cry, he has also invited them to hang the Palestinian flag out of the window.
