Both are Palestinian residents of Kafr ‘Aqab, a finger of territory that, according to Israeli law, is part of Greater Jerusalem, but under international law is considered illegal annexed territory after its capture in Jordan in 1967.
It is also built by Jerusalem by Israel’s gigantic concrete security wall. Jewish Israelis rarely come here, except in uniform for military raids.
Mahmoud Oudeh, like thousands of other residents, has a Palestinian identity document. His friend Anan Abu Aishe has an Israeli identity card, which defines him as a permanent resident of East Jerusalem. This entitles him to join Israel’s top vaccination campaign, which is on track to meet the government’s goal of inoculating the entire country by the end of March.
But at least 4.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza are left behind. So far, no one has given the injections and most are unlikely to receive them soon – as there is no vaccination campaign against Covid-19 in the Palestinian territories.
So if Anan gets the vaccine and goes on with his friend, cutting and selling goat meat and beef carcasses that swing from hooks in the store, he says he would feel guilty.
“Half of the people here can’t take it, so I won’t take it either, why would I take it when I can’t? I won’t,” he told CNN.
“He is racist,” Mahmoud added.
According to United Nations experts, an immunization policy that differentiates between those with Israeli IDs and those without, is “unacceptable.”
The UN expert report says that Israel is the occupying power in and over Gaza and the West Bank and has been since 1967 and is therefore ultimately responsible for the health care of those living under occupation.
According to the expert report, published by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Israel should extend its vaccination campaign to all Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Experts also said: “4.5 million Palestinians will remain unprotected and exposed to Covid-19, while Israeli citizens living nearby and among them – including the population of Israeli settlers – will be vaccinated. Morally and legally, this differentiated access to health care in the midst of the worst global health crisis in a century is unacceptable. ”
But as Israel’s vaccination campaign exceeds 20% of the Israeli population (including East Jerusalem residents), this is not a characterization that Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein accepts.
“Our calculation was based on Israeli citizens. If we get to the point where everyone in the country who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated, we will be more than ready to share the vaccines with our neighbors,” Edelstein told CNN.
“At this stage we are talking about Israeli citizens … I have not heard of any obligation for Israel to pay for the vaccines for anyone else.”
The Israeli government points to the Oslo Accords, signed in the mid-1990s with the Palestine Liberation Organization, which led to the creation of the Palestinian Authority (PA). The first of these agreements includes a clause that teaches the PA responsibility for the health of all Palestinians under its civilian administration.
Experts acknowledge that it is not a simple task trying to navigate between the responsibilities assigned by Oslo, which was not a final status agreement, and the tasks provided for in the Geneva Conventions.
In his interview with CNN, Edelstein made the decision in terms of interests rather than obligations.
“We are not providing vaccines at this stage, but we understand that it is in Israel’s interest to make sure that we do not get into a situation where we are vaccinated and then get out of these problems, and there is another increase in the Palestinian side,” he added. Edelstein.
PA Health Minister Dr. Mai Al-Kaileh says he expects to get the Covid-19 vaccine by the end of March, but that there is no specific date for their arrival. The ministry says it has contracted with four vaccine companies. These vaccines will cover 70% of the Palestinian population, and the World Health Organization will provide the Ministry with 20%, “the AP said in a statement on January 9th.
At Central Public Hospital in Ramallah, doctors are working non-stop to treat coronavirus patients in an intensive care unit for Covid only. As in many other hospitals around the world, non-specialized staff have been trained to deal with the pandemic. But after a prolonged deadlock, admissions are declining, and on the day CNN visits, the ICU is not full.
Dr. Wafa Shihadeh, a resident general surgeon, has been working at Covid-19 for months. He says he has seen many of his colleagues succumb to infections and spread them to their families.
“We are starting to feel depressed because we do not receive vaccines here in the Palestinian territories,” he said. “And on the other side of the border, Israel … I think that three days ago, about 1,600,000 people were vaccinated and here in Palestine, the number of people vaccinated is zero.”
Abeer Salman contributed to this report.