The fight against COVID-19 in the Gaza Strip (updated to April 19, 2020)

Main developments

• Main developments in the Gaza Strip:
  • According to reports from the Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases over the past week remains unchanged. To date, 13 patients have been identified in the Gaza Strip, who arrived through the Rafah Crossing. Nine of them have already recovered, the rest are mild cases and have been admitted to a hospital at the Rafah Crossing.
  • The Hamas administration fears that the virus will spread into the Gaza Strip and continues to take preventive measures. This fear has increased after 1,632 residents returned to the Gaza Strip after being stuck on the Egyptian side of the Rafah Crossing. In light of the above, there are plans to close the mosques, including during the month of Ramadan.
  • In the Gaza Strip, it is clearly evident that the public’s compliance with the guidelines issued by Hamas and the Hamas administration is decreasing. The crowds at the opening of a new mall in the Nuseirat refugee camp is a clear example of this. The Hamas administration spokesmen called on civilians not to become complacent.
  • The spokesman for the Hamas administration’s Health Ministry again warned of a shortage of medical equipment, lab materials and drugs. According to him, due to the shortage of lab materials, it is impossible to obtain the results of COVID-19 tests. Hamas’s spokesmen continue to complain that the aid transferred to the Gaza Strip to date is “disgraceful.”
  • According to Israeli media reports, on April 13 the IDF laboratory began interpreting the test results of suspected COVID-19 patients from the Gaza Strip. Israel also transfers to the Gaza Strip medical equipment, test kits and lab materials donated by aid institutions and organizations.
  • Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya and Hamas administration spokesmen continue to accuse Israel of sabotaging Hamas’s means of coping with COVID-19. These accusations continue to be accompanied by threats. Khalil al-Hayya declared that “all options are available to Hamas in order to force Israel (“the occupation”) to supply whatever is necessary for coping with COVID-19.”

Morbidity

According to reports from the Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip, no new COVID-19 cases were identified over the past week. The number of COVID-19 patients is 13. Nine of them have already recovered (Gaza Health Ministry website, April 18, 2020). Four other patients are still hospitalized in a quarantine hospital at the Rafah Crossing, and are said to be in “encouraging” condition. The nine people who have recovered are being monitored at the Rafah Crossing quarantine center (Palsawa, April 18, 2020).

• All the patients who have been identified to date arrived at the Rafah Crossing from Egypt. In the Gaza Strip itself, according to reports by the Hamas Health Ministry, no COVID-19 patients have been identified to date. In the Gaza Strip, there are 2,021 people in 26 quarantine centers (Gaza Health Ministry website, April 18, 2020).

Shortage of medical equipment and drugs

• The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip continues to carry out COVID-19 tests. However, the ministry reported that it could not carry out the tests due to a lack of lab materials (Gaza Health Ministry website, April 18, 2020).
• Health Ministry Spokesman Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra again called for assistance to the Health Ministry in the form of drugs, medical supplies, lab materials, ventilators and intensive care beds (Al-Ra’i News Agency, April 15, 2020). According to Dr. Al-Qidra, there is a shortage of 44% of the (necessary) drugs and 65% of the lab materials. According to him, there is a severe shortage of lab materials for PRC tests (which identify the virus). In addition, 100 ventilators are needed “urgently” (Palestine Online, April 14, 2020).

Opening of the Rafah Crossing

• The Rafah Crossing was opened between April 13 and April 16 to enable Palestinians who had been stuck on the Egyptian side of the crossing to return to the Gaza Strip. In four days, 1,632 people returned to the Gaza Strip and were sent to quarantine centers throughout the Gaza Strip (Gaza Interior Ministry website, April 17, 2020).
• According to the Interior Ministry spokesman, the Rafah Crossing is now completely closed on both sides. The Erez Crossing [between the Gaza Strip and Israel] is closed, but there are exceptional cases of patients returning to the Gaza Strip. According to the spokesman, the effective steps being taken at the Rafah Crossing are the same as those taken at the Erez Crossing (Gaza Interior Ministry website, April 13, 2020).

     
Palestinians arriving at the Rafah Crossing from the Egyptian side in preparation for their transfer to quarantine centers in the Gaza Strip (Twitter account of the Gaza Interior Ministry, April 13-14, 2020)

• The spokesman for the Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip and other spokesmen announced that the quarantine period for those returning to the Gaza Strip would be extended beyond 21 days. The period may be extended to 28 days due to the lack of medical supplies needed for testing before they leave the quarantine (Anatolia News Agency, April 13, 2020).

Preventive measures by Hamas and the Hamas administration

Violation of safety procedures

Escape of a resident of Khan Yunis from the Rafah Crossing

• On April 18, a resident of Khan Yunis named Misbah Ahmad Tabassi escaped from the Rafah quarantine center into the Gaza Strip. He was arrested several hours later. During his investigation, it became evident that he had fled to his home. A complete lockdown was imposed on some 30 people who had come in contact with him. His investigation revealed that he belonged to a network of drug smugglers. His test results were negative. As a result, the lockdown on his neighborhood was lifted (Gaza Interior Ministry website, April 18, 2020).

Violation of safety procedures during the opening of a mall

• The Prosecutor General instructed to mount a criminal investigation on a suspected violation of health and safety procedures at the opening of the Hyper Mall in the Nuseirat refugee camp (Al-Ra’i News Agency, April 16, 2020).

Healthcare steps

• According to an announcement by Gaza Health Ministry Spokesman Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra and Gaza Administration Information Bureau Chairman Salameh Ma’aruf, all public sector employees who provide direct services to residents must wear masks. This directive also applies to all employees in the medical sector. At this stage, residents will not be required to wear masks, but the Interior Ministry spokesman called on them to wear masks outside their homes and in places of contact with other residents, as an important preventive measure (Al-Ra’i News Agency, April 14-16, 2020).
• In order to meet the demand for masks, the Interior Ministry in the Gaza Strip began to manufacture masks. Initially, the masks were distributed to residents returning through the Rafah and Erez crossings and to Interior Ministry employees (Gaza Interior Ministry website, April 15, 2020).
• Private textile factories in the Gaza Strip also began to manufacture masks, even before the Hamas administration’s Interior Ministry began to manufacture them. These are three factories, two of which produce 85,000 masks a day. The masks are exported to Europe and the United States through Israeli merchants (Facebook page of the Gaza Health Ministry, April 16, 2020).

    
The Unipal 2000 factory
(Twitter account of journalist Hassan Aslih, April 13, 2020)

   
Masks intended for export
(Al-Ra’i News Agency’s Twitter account, April 12, 2020)

• Interior Ministry Spokesman Iyad al-Buzum and other Hamas administration spokesmen warned citizens against complacency. Al-Buzum noted that if patients were found inside the Gaza Strip, “tougher steps” would have to be taken. He specifically called on them to refrain from congregating, including both celebrations and condolence visits. He also called on them not to be complacent, especially in view of arrival in the Gaza Strip of civilians who had been stuck on the Egyptian side, because there is a fear that some of them have COVID-19 (Al-Ra’i News Agency, April 14, 2020).

Assistance to the needy

• Gaza Ministry of Social Development Spokeswoman Aziza Al-Kahlout said that the COVID-19 crisis had worsened the living conditions of Gaza Strip residents. The Ministry of Social Development has an overall plan to reach about 200,000 needy families if a broader state of emergency than the current one is declared. Al-Kahlout noted that her ministry recently added some 10,000 families to the periodic financial benefits plan, in which the Palestinian Authority government, with the support of the European Union, pays financial benefits to the families three times a year (in the amount of NIS 700-1,800). The current number of beneficiaries of the program is 81,000 needy families (Anatolia News Agency, April 17, 2020).
• According to the spokeswoman, a large part of her ministry’s aid went to the quarantine centers. This aid included supplying beds, blankets, detergents, electrical appliances, and tens of thousands of meals and bottled water. Al-Kahlout added that the ministry’s annual budget was not sufficient to cover the ministry’s expenses before the COVID-19 crisis. The budget relied on collaboration with local and foreign charities. The ministry now needs more assistance from these institutions in order to carry out its aid programs (Anatolia News Agency, April 17, 2020).

     
Supplying ready meals to the quarantine centers financed by a $150 million grant to the Gaza Strip announced by the Emir of Qatar (Twitter account of the Qatari Committee to Rebuild Gaza, April 14, 2020)

Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) clean-up operation

• The PIJ has launched a clean-up operation which is expected to continue until the beginning of Ramadan. The operation began in the Shejaiyah neighborhood, near the home of Baha Abu al-Atta (who was killed in a targeted killing). Senior PIJ and Hamas officials took part in the operation (PIJ website, April 13, 2020).

      

     
PIJ clean-up operation in Gaza City
(Twitter account of the Gaza branch of the PIJ, April 13, 2020)

Medical aid to the Gaza Strip

• Gaza Health Ministry Spokesman Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra complained that the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry in Ramallah had sent just over a million dollars’ worth of medical equipment to the Gaza Strip (Dunya al-Watan, April 14, 2020). On another occasion, he called the medical aid that had reached the Gaza Strip up to now “shameful aid, which does not meet the urgent need to deal with the COVID-19 epidemic” (Palestine Online, April 14, 2020).
• According to Israeli media reports, on April 13, 2020, the IDF laboratory began interpreting about 100 test results of suspected COVID-19 patients from the Gaza Strip. Subsequently, a daily quota of tests was set. The IDF Spokesperson’s Office said in response: “The State of Israel is helping the Palestinian Authority and the Gaza Strip cope with the spread of COVID-19. The assistance is provided through international agencies, the Israeli Ministry of Health and the IDF, and the division of labor among them is carried out in accordance with the instructions of the political echelon” (website of Israeli daily Maariv, April 14, 2020).

Additional aid

• Following are details of aid from other countries and agencies:
• The provision of a PCR device donated by Rahma Worldwide and MedGlobal (Al-Ra’i News Agency, April 12, 2020; Gaza Health Ministry, April 13, 2020). The device was sent from Jordan through the Allenby Crossing and from Israel via the Erez Crossing, in coordination with the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) (COGAT’s Facebook page, April 12, 2020).
• Transfer of more than 500 test kits donated by the World Health Organization (WHO) (COGAT’s Facebook page, April 12, 2020)
• Lab materials sent to the central laboratory in the Gaza Strip (Palsawa, April 12, 2020).

Threats and blame directed at Israel

Spokesmen for Hamas and the Hamas administration continue to accuse Israel of sabotaging the Gaza Health Ministry’s efforts to cope with COVID-19. Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya even threatened Israel, saying that Hamas would use force to obtain medical equipment for the Gaza Strip for the fight against COVID-19.

• Main statements:
  • Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya declared that Hamas would not allow any Palestinian to die of COVID-19. According to Al-Hayya, “The [Israeli] occupation” bears full responsibility for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Al-Hayya declared that all options were available to Hamas in order to force “the occupation” to supply whatever was necessary for coping with COVID-19. He warned that Hamas would take “other steps” if “the occupation” prevented Gaza from coping with COVID-19 (Hamas website, April 19, 2020).
  • Health Ministry Spokesman Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra said the medical situation in the Gaza Strip was at a critical stage due to the ongoing “Israeli blockade” (Al-Ra’i News Agency, April 12, 2020). In a briefing on April 15, he said that continuing the “Israeli blockade” would jeopardize the Health Ministry’s efforts to fight COVID-19 and called on all parties to take immediate action to have it lifted (Al-Ra’i News Agency, April 15, 2020). On another occasion, Al-Qidra said that the epidemic of the Israeli blockade had caused the deaths of hundreds of patients and continued to threaten the lives of two million people in the Gaza Strip who were coping with the COVID-19 epidemic under harsh medical and humanitarian conditions (Palsawa, April 18, 2020).
  • Gaza Strip Governmental Monitoring Committee Chairman Muhammad Awad called on representatives of human rights groups to pressure the “Israeli occupation” to lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip in order to enable it to cope with the virus (Al-Ra’i News Agency, April 12, 2020).

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