By Lorenz van der Ven
The coronavirus reflects a unique challenge, testing the willingness of Israelis and Palestinians to place their differences aside. The virus has forced both parties to cooperate extensively in surveillance and contract tracing efforts, opening up overarching issues of travel and work permits for Palestinians. Nonetheless, progress remains stagnant in the West Bank and even detrimental across the Gaza Strip.
Although peace talks between Israel and the PA have been stalled for six years, both sides seem to realise that facing the coronavirus pandemic together should be preferred before standing alone. Now the Coronavirus is testing Israel as well as the Palestinians, it forces both parties to cooperate more intensively in maintaining jobs, work permits for Palestinians, supporting local factories and delivering tests.
With just 342 cases and 2 deaths recorded in the Occupied Territories cooperation between Israel and the PA has been essential for slowing the transmission of the virus. At the start of April, Palestinian health officials warned that Palestinian workers returning from Israeli factories, could fuel another outbreak in the Israeli-occupied Westbank. Palestinian and Israeli responded rapidly to halt the spread of the virus by agreeing a plan which allows Palestinian working in Israel to stay in their workplaces.
The move towards greater cooperation has the support of many Palestinians. A poll published by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO) found that the majority of Palestinians support cooperation between the Palestinian Authority agencies and Israel. The poll covered nearly 600 people in the West Bank including East Jerusalem, and Gaza. Also, many Palestinians are satisfied with the performances of both the PA health authorities and security forces in combatting the virus.
While there is a public appetite for cooperation, it is not without its difficulties. After Palestinian workers were allegedly dumped at checkpoints by Israeli forces, Palestinian PM Shtayyeh called on workers to return home for their own safety. Frequent instances of violence breed mistrust and pose a threat to cooperation between Israel and the PA behind the scenes.
The situation in the Gaza Strip is a further barrier to lasting cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians. Whereas the Palestinian Authority has the tools to (partly) cooperate with the Israeli government, the Hamas-led government of the Gaza Strip refused cooperation with Israel in combatting the coronavirus outbreak.
The problem facing Gaza is the total lack of resources, and with two million people living in an enclave of approximately 360 square kilometres, the fear of a major outbreak is growing. On top of that, the public health system in Gaza is already in the midst of a total collapse, after years of the Israeli-imposed blockade and several wars fought with Israel. And as a result of the coronavirus UNRWA, the UN-agency supporting Palestinian refugees, temporary cut off food-aid for the Gaza Strip amid fears of a larger outbreak in the coastal enclave.
Furthermore, there have been reports that the Israeli government is putting several impediments on the PA to do their job properly even in the West Bank where there have been several cases in which Israeli health officials did not provide Palestinian workers with proper protection. While Palestinians and Israelis are working together to face the coronavirus pandemic, the urgently needed movement of goods and ventilators in the occupied territory is still restricted by the Israeli army.
Just a few weeks ago Israeli forces even decided to raid a coronavirus testing clinic in East Jerusalem. Activists involved in setting up the clinic were arrested, because they were collaborating with the PA. The PA has predicted that it will need 40.000 test kits and 2.800 ventilators, but even if it will have the ability to buy this medical equipment, its movement will be restricted by Israel, causing suffering among Palestinians.
Even so, to meet its obligations under international law Israel must offer aid to the Palestinians which will require the Israeli government to deepen cooperation with the PA. As an occupying power it is obliged under Article 56 of the Fourth Geneva Convention to ensure and maintain the adoption and application of preventive measures necessary to combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics. As a result, Israel will have to take active steps to ensure Palestinians have adequate access to sufficient medical care.
It is hard to see how Israel will be able to fulfil its safeguarding duty, which applies to both Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, without lifting its blockades to ensure Palestinians have access to vital medical supplies. Because of the budgetary deficit in the Palestine, the responsibility for providing Palestinians with adequate medical equipment falls to Israel. Moreover, in times like these Israel should lessen the list of restricted goods to Gaza, including much-needed materials as chemical fertilizers, aluminium poles and steel cables.
Looking ahead, the task for Israel is twofold. Coronavirus has no respect for borders, and the task of protecting the Israeli population is intimately linked with slowing the spread of the virus in Palestine. Besides that, Israel is obliged to stop the spreading under international law, as well as to take active action in providing the Palestinian health sector with enough testing materials and ventilators.
Despite political polarization between the sides, Israel as well as the PA know they both need substantial cooperation in battling this pandemic, since the economies of both administrations are so intertwined with each other. To meet its obligations, Israel will not only have to develop its cooperation with the PA into one in which both sides will benefit, but must also soften the pressure on the Gazan health sector.
Even so, lasting cooperation remains a long way off: medical and humanitarian cooperation between Israel and the PA is certainly encouraging, but Israel’s refusal to equally share resources as well as the ever-looming threat of political incitement risk deepening mistrust between the two sides.
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