Israel Urged To Supply COVID-19 Vaccines To The West Bank And Gaza Strip

PM Israel Benjamin Netanyahu (Twitter / @ netanyahu)

JAKARTA - Human Rights Watch (HRW) demands that Israel give vaccines to more than 4.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The call followed the news that Israel was letting the spread of COVID-19 in the territory it controls.

"While Israel has vaccinated more than 20 percent of its citizens, including Jewish settlers in the West Bank, Israel has not committed to vaccinating Palestinians living in the same occupied territories under its military rule," HRW said in a statement quoted by Yeni Safak on Monday, January 18th.

Not only that. HRW also asked Israel to fulfill its obligations under the results of the 4th Geneva convention. Under the convention Israel is obliged to ensure medical supplies which it says have increased after more than 50 years of Israeli occupation.

"This responsibility, in addition to its obligations under international human rights, includes providing vaccines in a non-discriminatory way to Palestinians living under its control, using as a benchmark what is provided for its own citizens."

"The fact that Israelis, including settlers in the West Bank, are receiving vaccines at one of the fastest rates in the world shows that Israel has the capability to administer vaccines to at least some Palestinians in the occupied territories, but Israel has chosen to keep them unprotected," he added. the statement.