Israel uses vaccines as bargaining chips
Maureen Clare Murphy Rights and Accountability
Earlier this month, Tor Wennesland, the UN secretary-general’s new Middle East peace envoy, tweeted his appreciation to the Israeli government for facilitating “the Palestinian COVID-19 response effort, including vaccines delivery.”
Wennesland added: “The pandemic knows no borders – only collectively we can achieve results.”
His praise for Israel, however, was without merit and premature.
On Monday, the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank said that Israel was preventing the transfer of 2,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to frontline medical workers in the Gaza Strip.
Under a severely tightened Israeli blockade since 2007, the Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated places on the planet. The two million Palestinians living there have not yet received any vaccines.
An Israeli official told the AP news agency that the transfer of vaccines to Gaza, where more than 530 people have died from COVID-19, was under review.
Some Israeli lawmakers have called for the transfer of vaccines to be conditioned on concessions from Hamas authorities in Gaza.
Israeli officials have repeatedly sought to condition basic humanitarian needs in Gaza – like fuel for electricity generation – on forcing concessions from Hamas.
Michael Bueckert@mbueckertIsrael is blocking COVID-19 vaccines (procured by the PA) from entering the occupied Gaza Strip. Here’s Israeli politician Michal Cotler-Wunsh (Irwin Cotler’s daughter) arguing that Israel has an “obligation” to make vaccine access conditional on political concessions from Hamas.
Yet there is nothing reciprocal in a relationship between an occupier and the population it occupies. There is no reciprocity between a colonizer and the people subjected to its coercive rule.
Collective punishment
As the occupying power, Israel is responsible for “public health and hygiene in the occupied territory,” as stated in article 56 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
That article also makes “particular reference to the adoption and application of the prophylactic and preventive measures necessary to combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics.”
Not only has Israel refused to abide by its obligations, but it is also now undercutting the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to get the vaccine to medical workers in Gaza.
Putting a civilian population under pressure to extract demands like some Israeli lawmakers are intent on doing – a policy that underpins the siege on Gaza as a whole – is an act of collective punishment.
Collective punishment is a violation of article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention – a war crime.
Hammam Farah@HumHum83I learned today that my family in Gaza won’t be receiving the vaccine until Hamas makes concessions to Israel. Collective punishment is a violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions.
Michael Bueckert@mbueckertIsrael is blocking COVID-19 vaccines (procured by the PA) from entering the occupied Gaza Strip. Here’s Israeli politician Michal Cotler-Wunsh (Irwin Cotler’s daughter) arguing that Israel has an “obligation” to make vaccine access conditional on political concessions from Hamas. https://twitter.com/CotlerWunsh/status/1361553730701848577…5:03 PM · Feb 16, 2021
That too is a violation of international law championed by top officials and approved by Israel’s highest court.
Instead of praising nonexistent collective action to stymie the spread of COVID-19, UN envoy Wennesland should be condemning Israel for harming Palestinian public health efforts.
The failure of the UN’s political wing to hold Israel to account – and it has actually undermined accountability efforts from other bodies in the global organization – only allows these abuses to proliferate.
Wennesland appears intent to carry on the work of his predecessor Nickolay Mladenov, who treated Palestinian rights as subject to negotiation while demanding nothing from Israel.
Mladenov welcomed – if not advocated for – normalization agreements between Israel and authoritarian Arab states as advancements of regional peace, though they do nothing to secure Palestinian rights.
Israel controls Gaza
The delay of the transfer of vaccines to Gaza is yet another reminder that the coastal enclave remains under occupation and complete Israeli control.
Israeli claims that the request to transfer vaccines was “still being examined” will be familiar to medical patients in Gaza whose access to lifesaving treatment is delayed – sometimes indefinitely – under the same pretext.
Palestinian human rights groups have long decried Israel’s “apartheid regime of systematic racial domination and oppression over all Palestinians.”
Over decades this regime “has led to the fragmentation and de-development of the healthcare system of the occupied Palestinian territory,” particularly in Gaza.
They warn – as have others – that Israel’s siege has “pushed Gaza’s healthcare system to the brink of collapse.”
By applauding Israel in the context of Palestinian COVID-19 efforts, Wennesland seems to be in willful denial.
To be fair, willful denial may be part of his job description, which requires him to continue to advocate for a two-state solution under the Oslo negotiations framework.
That framework was designed nearly three decades ago to fail to secure Palestinian rights.
Like his predecessor, Wennesland has so far remained conspicuously silent as the International Criminal Court inches towards opening war crimes investigations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Let’s hope that the ICC – a court of last resort – won’t look the other way.
Tor Wennesland@TWennesland·Feb 12, 2021I welcome the recent meeting of #Palestinian factions in #Cairo. The meeting marks an important advancement towards the holding of elections & Palestinian unity. @UN will continue to support the Palestinian people & preparations towards the holding of elections. Full statement
Maureen Murphy@maureenclarem Any statement welcoming the ICC’s determination of territorial jurisdiction in the WB & Gaza, a step towards justice long denied to the Palestinians?5:59 PM · Feb 15, 2021
That court’s prosecutor likely has the names of Israeli leaders who author policies of collective punishment and the high-ranking officials responsible for other war crimes.
Let’s hope that the ICC – a court of last resort – won’t look the other way.
