Israel Isn't the World's Leader in Vaccinating its Population

Israel currently holds the highest number of vaccines in relation to its population, with a rate of 11.5 vaccines per person, already providing the vaccine jab to more than 14 percent of the Middle Eastern nation, with 150,000 vaccines being administered daily.

The COVID-19 vaccine roll-out plan, however, only includes citizens of Israel, comprising of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, and Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, whilst simultaneously excluding the nearly 5 million Palestinians who live in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is currently only being provided to approximately 600,000 Israeli settlers currently residing in 256 illegal settlements within the West Bank, including, East Jerusalem.

Yet, the Geneva convention obliges occupying powers, including Israel, to provide public health care services in the event of a contagious disease, such as COVID-19, to those under its occupation, which in this case would be Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza.

Gisha, an Israeli rights group, stated that cooperation between Palestinian authorities and the international community “does not absolve Israel from its ultimate responsibility toward Palestinians under occupation”. Therefore, such exclusion from the vaccination drive violates international humanitarian law, as well as the right to health under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as it is Israel’s responsibility to provide vaccines to Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.

The Israeli Ministry of Health has not yet publicly expressed any distribution policy that reserves specific amounts of doses for Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, nor has it formulated a timeline for the disbursement of these vaccines to Palestinian health authorities.

As such, Misbar has found that the claim that Israel is leading the world in vaccinating its population, whilst simultaneously excluding its 5 million Palestinians under its occupation, to be misleading.