Rights groups have accused Israel of discriminating against its Palestinian communities by failing to provide accurate information regarding COVID-19 and the vaccine in Arabic.

While Israel will have vaccinated two million by the end of January, Palestinians are not part of the distribution plan.

Below the headlines celebrating Israel’s vaccination rates lies a far darker story about health inequality.

Longtime Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai has formed a new political party – “The Israelis” – to finally take down Netanyahu. But Netanyahu has one card up his sleeve — the coronavirus vaccine.

The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine perfectly illustrates Israel’s apartheid system. While Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza will not receive vaccines from the Israeli government, the hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers living illegally in the West Bank are getting vaccinated every day.

Streets are quiet in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel, for an understated Christmas as health officials are still working control the spread of the coronavirus with closures, and prevent further cases of a mutated strain that originated in the UK.

In the city of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, Christmas is the biggest day of the year. The holiday typically draws thousands of Palestinians and foreigners alike to the city, which adorns its streets and churches in beautiful lights and decorations for the season. But this year, COVID-19 has changed all of that. Manger Square and the Church of Nativity have been emptied of their usual visitors, and Palestinian Christian families have been forced to spend their most precious day of the year under lockdown.

Israel will begin its national COVID-19 vaccination campaign on Saturday, but Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are seemingly still months away from receiving a vaccine.

Earlier this week residents of Hebron staged protests against the Palestinian Authority (PA) over renewed COVID-19 lockdowns across the West Bank, sparking clashes and confrontations between armed civilians and PA security forces.

The coronavirus continues to surge across the West Bank and Gaza, prompting Palestinian authorities to shut down entire cities, restrict movement, and for a first time threatened punitive damages for violations.