The Spread of Covid-19 Inside the Gaza Strip; Balloon Terrorism Continues (Updated to August 27, 2020)

Overview

On August 24, 2020, four active Covid-19 cases were detected in one family the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. It was the first instance of coronavirus infection inside Gaza since the first case was detected on March 21, 2020.^[1] A short time later more cases were detected in various locations, and as of August 27, 2020, 40 active cases of Covid-19 had been detected inside the Gaza Strip. In addition, 37 Palestinians returning to the Gaza Strip were detected as ill with Covid-19 and were placed in quarantine centers. As of August 27, 2020, there were 77 active cases of Covid-19 in the Gaza Strip. A general shutdown was imposed and security operatives have been deployed in public places to enforce it. Until recently the Hamas administration successfully controlled the spread of the disease. They did that by detecting new cases as Palestinians entered through the Rafah Crossing and Erez Crossing, and immediately quarantining them without allowing them to come into contact with the local population. Senior figures in the public health system are now concerned about the spread of the disease throughout the entire Gaza Strip.

• Since the Covid-19 crisis began the ministry of health in Gaza has been preparing for a worst-case scenario where infection would be found inside the Gaza Strip. Members of the public health system and the Hamas administration have repeatedly warned of such a situation. The outbreak of Covid-19 inside the Gaza Strip and the very real possibility that the disease will continue to spread pose great challenges, and control over the spread of the disease may be lost (given the Gaza Strip’s crowded living conditions, poor sanitation and the weakness of the public health system).
• The active Covid-19 cases were detected inside the Gaza Strip while tensions along the border increased, initiated by Hamas. The tension has been caused by balloon terrorism, whose objective is to wrest economic concessions and medical aid from Israel. Even after active cases were detected inside the Gaza Strip, despite the shutdown and the arrival of a Qatari delegation, the launching of IED and incendiary balloons continued. Moreover, senior Hamas figures publicly said they would cause the situation to deteriorate if their demands were not met, including the urgent delivery of medical equipment, such as swabs, test kits and ventilators.

Covid-19 Infection in the Gaza Strip: Overview

• According to the ministry of health in Gaza, this past week there was a significant increase in the number of active cases, which stood at 77 on Thursday, August 27, 2020. Forty active cases were detected inside the Gaza Strip and 37 cases among Palestinians returning to the Gaza Strip, who were sent to quarantine centers. Two deaths were reported, both Palestinians in their sixties who had preexisting conditions. One was an operative in Hamas’ military wing. As of August 27, 2020, there were 2,269 people in the quarantine centers in the Gaza Strip (ministry of health in Gaza Twitter account, August 27, 2020). Senior figures in the ministry of health said they expected the detection of many more cases in the coming days.

• Since the detection of active Covid-19 cases the ministry of health has carried out 1,545 tests (al-Aqsa, August 26, 2020). According to Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the ministry of health in the Gaza Strip, random sampling was conducted in areas where Palestinians with active cases lived or where people had come in contact with them, as well as in various medical institutions (Shehab, August 26, 2020).
• The first active cases inside the Gaza Strip were detected in a woman and three men, all of the same family, residents of the al-Maghazi refugee camp. In the days afterwards more active cases were detected in various locations inside Gaza:
  • Six in the al-Maghazi refugee camp who were related to the original four detected.
  • A doctor who treated Covid-19 patients and was himself infected.
  • An employee of the ministry of the interior who was infected at work.
  • A woman from the al-Sheikh Radwan neighborhood and a woman from the al-Tufah neighborhood, both in Gaza City, who were being treated at the Shifaa Hospital.
  • A woman in her twenties from the al-Tufah neighborhood in Gaza City.
  • Two Covid-19 patients were transferred to the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, one in the ICU on a ventilator. (His death was later reported by the ministry of health.)

The Public Health System and Concerns for the Future

Despite the warnings at the outbreak of the disease of the possible detection of future cases of Covid-19 inside the Gaza Strip and despite the drills carried out for dealing with mass infection, the spread of Covid-19 poses a great challenge for the public health system. The crowded living conditions, poor sanitation and weak public health resources pose a threat to Hamas’ governance systems. Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the ministry of health in the Gaza Strip, said the worst possible scenario for the spread of Covid-19 had become real, and added that they were not surprised by the current situation (al-Aqsa, August 25, 2020).

• The ministry of health announced the European Gaza Hospital would now be devoted exclusively to treating Covid-19 cases (al-Aqsa, August 26, 2020). The Shifaa Hospital announced the cancellation of all elective surgery and only emergency surgery would be performed (Filastin al-Yawm, August 26, 2020).
• UNRWA announced the temporary suspension of its services with the exception of basic first aid. The agency added it was making preparations for the delivery of life-saving drugs for patients with non-infections diseases. Its schools were closed in accordance with the ministry of education’s guidelines, and the delivery of food was temporarily stopped, all until an assessment could be made of the situation and a safe mechanism for delivery could be found. UNRWA called on the refugees to keep the camps clean themselves because its sanitation workers were temporarily unable to carry out their duties (al-Ra’i news agency, August 25, 2020).

• Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the ministry of health in the Gaza Strip, said they still did not know the source of the infection or why there was more than one epicenter. He said they were carrying out contact tracing to find the source (Shehab, August 26, 2020). Yusuf Abu al-Rish, deputy minister of health in Gaza, said it was impossible to locate the exact source of the infection inside the Gaza Strip, and they were currently exerting all their efforts to stop its spread and limit further infection as far as possible. He said they expect the detection of more active cases in the coming days. He added that in order to maintain control, the number of cases detected daily had to be fewer than 280 and no more than a total of 2,000 active cases (al-Aqsa, August 26, 2020).
• Iyad al-Buzum, spokesman for the ministry of the interior in Gaza, said it was very difficult to talk about a precise epidemiological investigation because the active cases had been detected in different locations. The scattering of the cases throughout the Gaza Strip indicated significant infection outside the quarantine centers and the potential for greater infection (Facebook page of the ministry of the interior in Gaza, August 26, 2020).

Broad Preventive Measures Following the Spread of Covid-19 Infection Inside the Gaza Strip

• As soon as the Covid-19 cases were detected the entire al-Maghazi refugee camp was shut down and teams arrived for epidemiological research and contact tracing. At the same time a 48-hour general shutdown of the entire Gaza Strip was declared. When additional cases were detected, Tawfiq Abu Na’im, deputy minister of the interior, announced a three-day extension of the shutdown with the option for further extension. He said the security forces might be forced to close off residential areas or lock residents inside their houses. The shutdown includes places of employment and educational institutions, mosques and markets, and mass prayers and gatherings are banned. The shutdown also includes jails and holding cells in police stations, and visits to such locations have been stopped (website of the ministry of the interior in Gaza, August 24, 2020).
• The Covid-19 crisis management committee ordered patients who had recovered in the quarantine centers to be sent to local school buildings after 14 days. Hospitals where active Covid-19 cases had been detected were also closed, and sewing workshops would be enlisted to make a million masks. In addition, the ministry of education ordered schools to be closed until further notice. The ministry of Muslim endowments ordered the closing of the mosques. Only bakeries and pharmacies will be open, and public water activity will continue (Ma’an, August 27, 2020).
• Security force operatives and police were deployed in the streets and public places to enforce the shutdown. Iyad al-Buzum, spokesman for the ministry of the interior and national security in Gaza, called on all residents to cooperate with the police and government apparatuses (website of the ministry of the interior, August 24, 2020). After residents stormed stores, a spokesman for the ministry of the interior announced that all basic staples and other necessities were available in the markets, and the authorities would ensure a continual supply. The spokesman emphasized that all the relevant entities were prepared to deal with every scenario in an outbreak of the disease. The national economic ministry announced there were reserves and supplies of food and other goods for a number of months and that they were available in the stores and markets. The announcement also called on local residents not to storm the stores, and on store owners not to hoard merchandise.
• Pictures in the Palestinian media and social networks showed most of the Gazans obeying the shutdown orders. The Ma’an website reported that the streets of Gaza City were unusually quiet (Ma’an, August 27, 2020). An exception was the mass- funeral held for four Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operatives killed in a “work accident” in Sajaiya (Ma’an, August 25, 2020).

• The security forces are planning to take steps against 23 Gazans suspected of spreading rumors on the social networks about the Covid-19 situation in the Gaza Strip (Facebook page of the ministry of the interior, August 26, 2020). That may indicate that Hamas is trying to increase its control of the information spread from the Gaza Strip about Covid-19.

Balloon Terrorism Continues Regardless of the Spread of Covid-19

So far, the detection of Covid-19 cases inside the Gaza Strip has not influenced the deterioration in the security situation, which Hamas initiated three weeks ago. Even after the declaration of a general shutdown and despite instructions to local residents to stay at home, the launching of IED and incendiary balloons continues. They cause dozens of fires in Israeli territory every day, most of them near the Gaza border but some of them much further inland. Apparently, since August 26, 2020, more IED than incendiary balloons have been found in Israeli territory..

• The balloon-launching units announced they would continue their activities:
• The Ahfad al-Nasser network (affiliated with the Popular Resistance Movement) said, “With or without Covid-19, Ahfad al-Nasser will burn [the Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip] today. Despite the shutdown after a Covid-19 infection was found, the Ahfad al-Nasser units in the battlefield will continue to strike [Israelis] near the Gazan border with incendiary balloons, because the epidemic of the occupation and siege is more dangerous to our people than the coronavirus” (Ahfad al-Nasser Telegram channel, August 25, 2020).

   
The PIJ’s Barak unit and Ahfad al-Nasser operatives launch incendiary balloons
(Ahfad al-Nasser Facebook page, August 27, 2020).

• • The Sons of al-Qoqa unit (affiliated the Popular Resistance Committees) said they would fight on two fronts, against the coronavirus and against Israel (Dunia al-Watan, August 25, 2020).
• In effect, the shutdown of the Gaza Strip does not seem to affect the scope of IED and incendiary balloon launches. They cause several dozen fires in Israel every day. Some of the more prominent examples were the following:
  • August 27, 2020: A fire broke out in a community in the northern Gaza Strip. An IED balloon landed in another community in the same area. The IED was neutralized by a police demolitions expert (0404 News, August 27, 2020).
  • August 26, 2020: A fire was caused by an incendiary balloon which landed near railroad tracks as a train was passing (N12 website, August 26, 2020). An incendiary balloon landed in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, and was neutralized by police demolitions experts. No casualties or damage were reported (Israeli media, August 26, 2020).
  • August 26, 2020: Several IED balloons were found, three of them near the southern Israel city of Ofakim. (One of them blew up in the air near the team of demolitions experts sent to neutralize them). An IED balloon landed in a ceramic tile factory in the southern Israeli city of Netivot. Police and demolitions experts neutralized and destroyed the balloons (Israel Police Force spokesman’s unit, Twitter accounts of Almog Boker and Asaf Pozailov, and Negev Field Security, August 26, 2020).

Qatari mediation

• In an attempt to stabilize the situation, Mohammed al-Emadi, chairman of Qatar’s National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, and his deputy arrived in the Gaza Strip. They met with senior Hamas figures, including Yahya al-Sinwar, head of the Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian media reported that al-Emadi said Israel had agreed to ease the “siege” if Hamas would commit to a lull (al-Arabiya, Filastin al-Yawm, August 26, 2020).
• “Palestinian sources” reported that although al-Emadi deposited the Qatari funds for needy Gazans in the Gaza Strip post office bank, Hamas gave him a strong message to be transmitted to Israel about the need to improve the humanitarian, economic and health situation in Gaza in view of the spread of the coronavirus. Reportedly, Hamas warned that the coming days would be “very hot” because of the pressure caused by coronavirus. Hamas also threatened to move the coronavirus crisis into Israel unless its demand were met.
• In addition to its previous demands, Hamas now demands the urgent supply of medical equipment, test kits for the detection of Covid-19, swabs and ventilators, especially since there are only 120 ventilators in the Gaza Strip. According to a report in the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese daily newspaper al-Akhbar, IED and incendiary balloons were launched into Israeli territories even as senior Hamas figures met with al-Emadi. Palestinian sources reported that the balloon-launching units had received orders to increase launching all types of balloons in order to continue exerting pressure on Israel (al-Akhbar, Lebanese, August 27, 2020).

Blaming Israel

• The spread of Covid-19 inside the Gaza Strip has been accompanied by blaming Israel and accusing it of responsibility for the situation created in Gaza. Isma’il Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political bureau, and currently abroad, said the Gaza Strip now had to cope simultaneously with three major challenges: the [so-called] “siege,” Covid-19 and Israel’s [alleged] “military aggression.” He stressed that Israel would bear full responsibility for the situation and had to lift the siege immediately to allow the delivery of medical equipment to fight the disease ( Shehab, August 26, 2018).
• Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum called on human rights organizations, humanitarian organizations, the international community and the W.H.O. to act immediately to end the “oppressive siege” imposed by Israel (“the Israeli occupation”) on Gaza. He also called for the transfer of supplies to fight Covid-19. He called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to fulfill its role and take full responsibility for the two million Palestinians living under “siege” in the Gaza Strip, especially in light of the danger of the spread of the disease inside Gaza (Hamas website, August 25, 2020).
• The Palestinian terrorist organizations claim Israel (“the Zionist occupation”) is responsible for the Palestinians’ lives. They threaten that if the siege is not lifted and medical equipment to fight Covid-19 and basic necessities are not transferred to the Gaza Strip, they will act against Israel (Dunia al-Watan, August 27, 2020).

^[1] The first two Covid-19 cases were detected in Gaza on March 21, 2020, in two Palestinians who had returned from Pakistan. Between then and the detection of active Covid-19 cases inside Gaza, the active cases have been detected at the crossings (most at the Rafah Crossing but some at the Erez Crossing as well). They are immediately transferred to quarantine centers, thus preventing, until now, the spread of Covid-19 inside the Gaza Strip proper. ↑

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