Pressure in Israel to Provide Vaccines to Palestinians

Children in Gaza, where coronavirus cases exceeded 600 on Friday. EPA)
Children in Gaza, where coronavirus cases exceeded 600 on Friday. EPA)
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Pressure in Israel to Provide Vaccines to Palestinians

Children in Gaza, where coronavirus cases exceeded 600 on Friday. EPA)
Children in Gaza, where coronavirus cases exceeded 600 on Friday. EPA)

A group of six Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups have appealed to Israel's Supreme Court to demand that the state provide vaccines to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.

Joining Physicians for Human Rights-Israel in the petition to the court were: HaMoked: Centre for the Defense of the Individual; Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights; Gisha – Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement; Adalah: The Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel; and Rabbis for Human Rights.

In their petition, the organizations emphasize that Israel has legal, moral, and ethical obligations towards the Palestinians, deriving from its occupation and ongoing control of Gaza and the West Bank.

These duties are anchored in international law as well as Israeli jurisprudence.

The Palestinian healthcare system and economy have been subjected for many years to severe restrictions imposed by Israel, which have led to a shortage of doctors and medical supplies, and difficulty dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 50 percent (more than five million) of the Israeli population has been vaccinated. In contrast, less than 50,000 Palestinians were vaccinated (34,000 in the West Bank and 16,000 in the Gaza Strip).

Palestinian Minister of Health Mai al-Kailah said the recovery rate in Palestine reached 89.3 percent, active cases reached 9.6 percent, and the death rate 1.1 percent of the total infections.

A total of 14 deaths were recorded in West Bank.

She pointed that 205 COVID-19 patients are receiving treatment in intensive care units, including 69 who are connected to ventilators, while 690 others are hospitalized across the West Bank.

In the Gaza Strip, 617 cases and two deaths were recorded.



Lebanese Govt. to Seek New IMF Program, Policy Statement Says

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas//File Photo
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas//File Photo
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Lebanese Govt. to Seek New IMF Program, Policy Statement Says

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas//File Photo
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas//File Photo

Lebanon's new government will negotiate with the International Monetary Fund for a new program and will work to deal with the country's financial default and public debt, according to a policy statement approved by the cabinet late on Monday.

The statement, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, said the government would work for an economical revival that could only be achieved through restructuring the banking sector.

Lebanon has been in deep economic crisis since 2019, when its financial system collapsed under the weight of massive state debts, prompting a sovereign default in 2020 and freezing ordinary depositors out of their savings in the banking system.

Beirut reached a draft funding deal with IMF in 2022 - contingent on reforms that authorities failed to deliver.

Finance Minister Yassine Jaber, who took office as part of a new government agreed earlier this month, told Reuters an IMF mission is expected to visit Lebanon in March.

Jaber said he had met the IMF's resident representative in Lebanon, Frederico Lima, and confirmed that the government plans to move ahead with reforms.

Lebanon's political landscape has been turned on its head since the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, long a dominant player in Lebanese politics, was badly pummelled in last year's war with Israel.

Reflecting the shift in the power balance, the government policy statement did not include language used in previous years that was seen to legitimize a role for Hezbollah in defending Lebanon, saying instead "we want a state that has the decision of war and peace".

The statement said it was required to adopt a national security strategy and a foreign policy that works to 'neutralize' Lebanon from conflicts.

In the field of energy, the Lebanese government will seek to resume work in oil and gas exploration, according to the cabinet statement. It said the government planned to establish a Ministry of Technology and Artificial Intelligence.

With a new administration in neighboring Syria, the statement said the Lebanese government believed it has an opportunity to start a serious dialogue aimed at controlling and demarcating the borders and working to resolve the issue of displaced Syrians in Lebanon.