GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) – A shipment of coronavirus vaccines arranged by a rival of President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Gaza on Sunday, boosting efforts to vaccinate the blocked territory and embarrassing the Palestinian leader before national elections.
The 20,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V, donated by the United Arab Emirates and organized by Abbas’ rival Mohammed Dahlan, entered the Palestinian enclave across the border with Egypt. A container truck with a huge band of Emirati leaders and a message of thanks passed the Rafah crossing point in the southern Gaza Strip.
The delivery came days after the Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank and chaired by Abbas, managed to deliver just 2,000 doses of the same type of vaccine to Gaza via Israel, which delayed shipping for a few days. Sunday’s delivery seemed in part to make Abbas’s government seem ineffective.
Dahlan, a former senior member of Abbas’ Fatah party, has been in exile in Abu Dhabi since a disagreement with the Palestinian leader in 2011.
Gaza has been governed by the Islamic militant group Hamas since 2007, when it took control of the territory of Abbas’ forces.
Together, vaccines are sufficient for 11,000 people, a small fraction of Gaza’s 2 million inhabitants. The Health Ministry, led by Hamas, said the vaccination campaign would start on Monday with frontline health professionals and “honorary dignitaries”.
Gaza is estimated to need 2.6 million doses to inoculate people aged 16 and over.
Dahlan, a former security chief in Abbas’ Fatah party, was forced to flee Gaza during the acquisition of Hamas in 2007. But in recent years, he has restored ties to the group thanks to animosity towards Abbas.
Palestinians plan to hold in May what would be their first parliamentary elections in 15 years. Vaccine deliveries are expected to improve the position of Dahlan and his Fatah splinter group, called the Democratic Reform Bloc, in the vote.
Abbas prevented Dahlan from competing in the polls, but members of his group plan to compete, positioning them as a possible kingmaker in the election between Hamas and Fatah.
Gaza health officials have reported more than 54,000 coronavirus infections and 543 deaths.
Israel has faced international criticism for largely excluding Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza from its highly successful vaccination campaign.
Human rights groups say they have an obligation, as an occupying power, to share their vaccines with the Palestinians. Israel captured East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 war, territories that Palestinians want for their future state.
Israel denies having such an obligation and says its priority is its own citizens, as well as the Palestinians in East Jerusalem annexed to Israel. He says the Palestinian Authority is responsible for health care in the territories it administers under interim peace agreements.
Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but maintained a blockade with Egypt over the territory in an effort that says it aims to prevent Hamas from arming itself.