The UN has called on the Israeli regime to ensure that Palestinians receive COVID-19 vaccinations amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“The United Nations continues to encourage Israel to address the priority needs of Palestinians … and to support the availability of Covid-19 vaccines in general,” new United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland said in a virtual meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday.
“It is important that the same level of commitment and cooperation be maintained in the delivery of vaccines,” Wennesland added.
He stressed that the pandemic has hit the occupied Palestinian territories hard and said the cost of living and making a living there remains high, especially in Gaza.
The Israeli regime has injected Pfizer and Moderna vaccines into more than 2.5 million people in the occupied Palestinian territories, but has refused to provide vaccines to Palestinians, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said.
To date, more than 156,000 Palestinians have been infected with the coronavirus and more than 1,800 Palestinians have lost their lives to the virus.
In addition, Palestinian leaders have repeatedly expressed their serious concerns about the deteriorating health conditions of Palestinian prisoners infected with COVID-19 in Israeli regime prisons.
The Palestinian Information Center quoted the Prisoners’ Organization Press Office as saying in a statement on Sunday that the Israeli regime’s Prison Service (IPS -Israel Prison Service) was preventing the provision of vitamins and medical supplies to the prisoners infected with the coronavirus.
The Palestinian Prisoners Organization had earlier called on the international institutions to intervene immediately to ensure the infected prisoners’ access to proper medical treatment. It said that Palestinian prisoners are isolated in tragic conditions, and prisons lack the minimum hygiene and health services.
Many Palestinian prisoners have contracted the corona virus in recent months due to the negligence of Israeli officials. According to reports, more than 230 prisoners have been affected so far.
by Basit Abbasi – CCTV