Gaza reported it’s first two cases of COVID-19 on Saturday. While the spread of the respiratory disease is relatively contained in Gaza, there is widespread fear the health infrastructure is woefully underprepared to handle an outbreak
Last week, over 25 groups called on the Trump administration to end its sanctions on Iran amid the COVID-19 crisis. The virus has been particularly calamitous for Iran: at the time this piece was written the country had 21,638 confirmed cases and 1,685 people had been killed by it. U.S. sanctions have no doubt worsened the situation, as they’ve weakened Iran’s economy and thus made it more difficult to secure goods.
As Netanyahu likens himself to the captain of the Titanic amid the coronavirus pandemic, Israeli political protests of his powergrab have gone forward despite lockdown, with people in cars with black flags.
Even as Palestinians battle the coronavirus, the occupation takes its toll. Israeli soldiers killed a 29-year-old man allegedly for throwing rocks, and injured more than 200 other Palestinians in the last two weeks. While settlers assaulted a farmer and vandalized cars in West Bank villages, and raided the plaza of the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
On Sunday, the first two cases of the novel coronavirus were confirmed in the besieged Gaza Strip, home to over 2 million Palestinians. According to the health officials in Gaza, the two patients had recently traveled back to Gaza from Pakistan through the Rafah crossing, and were immediately put into quarantine upon their arrival.
Mondoweiss correspondent Yumna Patel lives in Bethlehem, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Palestine. As the crisis continues to develop, Yumna paints a picture of what daily life looks like in the city, the emotions of the people, and her own personal thoughts and fears.
Defense for Children International – Palestine is calling on the Israeli government to release all Palestinian child detainees amid the COVID-19 crisis.
A Palestinian family victimized by illegal Israeli settlers is suing Benjamin Netanyahu and his American abettors, including Jared Kushner and Sheldon Adelson, in a D.C. federal court. The suit is the branchild of Martin McMahon and relies on legal precedent regarding South African apartheid’s dehumanization of a civilian population and the universality of war crime law stemming from the Eichmann case.
Everyone has now experienced the feeling of lockdown and quarantine. Fortunately, this is to save lives. In Gaza, it has only caused death and suffering.
This week, several extreme measures were taken to suspend core features of Israel’s ‘democracy’ – the parliament was closed, the courts, and more. This has been framed as a necessary response to the coronavirus epidemic. But Israel has a long and sordid record of exploiting ’emergency’ for cynical aims.