Premier Mohammad Shtayyeh today singled out the lack of control over crossings and borders as the main reason for the novel coronavirus cases uptick in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Speaking ahead of the cabinet meeting in Ramallah, Shtayyeh stated that the lack of Palestinian control over crossings and borders coupled with the Israeli occupation authorities’ “racist” measures obstructing the Palestinian government’s efforts to fight the coronavirus spread were the main reason for the renewed outbreak of the pandemic.
He called on Israel to close all crossings into the occupied West Bank in a bid to curb the pandemic outbreak and noted that the government would take the issue up with the United Nations.
He reiterated that the competent authorities would impose penalties on those violating the public safety standards issued to curb the pandemic outbreak.
He revealing that 82 percent of total confirmed patients contracted the virus from wedding parties and funerals and that the remaining 18 percent contracted it from Palestinian workers inside Israel and others traveling from Israel to the West Bank and vice versa.
Therefore, he urged Palestinian community leaders to adopt a binding code of honor that prohibits weddings and condolence gatherings in all districts until the end of the coronavirus crisis.
