The Spread of Coronavirus in the Gaza Strip (Updated to March 29, 2020)

Overview

The number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the Gaza Strip has reached nine. The source was two Palestinians who arrived from Pakistan and subsequently infected seven security operatives. The ministry of health in the Gaza Strip claims that so far no case of COVID-19 infection has been detected inside the Gaza Strip. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that there are 64 ventilators in the Gaza Strip and that 50-100 more are needed for dealing with an outbreak of the disease. A senior figure in the Hamas administration reported that the ministry of health had asked for an additional 200 ventilators. There is also a lack of doctors, medical teams and medical equipment. Senior officials in the WHO and UNRWA warned that the spread of COVID-19 could cause “a disaster of gigantic proportions” in the Gaza Strip.

• Despite the medical equipment delivered through Israel and the informal coordination between Israel and the Gaza Strip administration, Israel continues to be blamed for the lack of medical equipment and medicine in the Gaza Strip. For example, a spokesman for the ministry of health said Israel was fully responsible for the lives of the two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. He accused the “Israeli occupation” of systematically destroying the health system and humanitarian services in the Gaza Strip, “which puts us at a dangerous crossroads with the virus.”

    
Medical equipment delivered to the Gaza Strip by the WHO in coordination with the Israeli liaison and coordination unit for the Gaza Strip (Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), March 19, 2020).

• So far there has been no significant Palestinian public criticism of Hamas, which gives priority to its military buildup and its campaign against Israel at the expense of rebuilding the Gaza Strip’s infrastructure and improving services to citizens. However, if COVID-19 spreads in the Gaza Strip, and the Hamas administration loses control of the situation, the level of public criticism of Hamas may rise, along with an increase in blaming Israel for all the Gaza Strip’s hardship. There are already indications that has begun happening.

The Situation in the Gaza Strip

The extent of the disease: an overview

On March 25, 2020, the ministry of health announced that seven new cases of COVID-19 had been detected in the Gaza Strip, bringing the total number to nine. The new cases were security guards who had come in contact with the two Palestinians who returned from Pakistan. The two were hospitalized in the quarantine center at the Rafah Crossing. They are still there and have not come in contact with anyone else. The ministry of health again stressed that [so far] there have been no new cases of COVID-19 from a source of infection inside the Gaza Strip. The ministry of health described the condition of the nine cases as good and stable (the Hamas administration’s al-Ra’i news agency, March 25, 2020).

The Hamas administration’s ability to cope with COVID-19

• Abd al-Nasser Sabah, director of the WHO’s office in the Gaza Strip, said that the health system in Gaza could deal well with the first 100 COVID-19 cases if they were detected gradually. After that the Gaza Strip would need external support, which was the WHO’s role (Agence France-Presse, March 22, 2020).
• Abd al-Latif al-Haj, responsible for international cooperation in the ministry of health in the Gaza Strip, reported that the total number of doctors working in pulmonary and intensive care units (ICUs) in Gaza was estimated at sixty. The chairman of the male nurses’ union in Gaza said the hospital system lacked approximately one thousand members of medical teams. Khalil Abu Qasmiya, chairman of the doctors’ union in Gaza, said the Gaza Strip desperately needs ventilators, because in the entire Strip there are only 69. Majdi Dheir, in charge of preventive medicine in the ministry of health in Gaza and chairman of the COVID-19 committee, said the ministry had asked for 200 ventilators to fight COVID-19. Administration sources in Gaza reported that the WHO was planning to provide 50 ventilators urgently as a first stage (sanad news, March 22, 2020).
• According to the WHO director there are 62 beds in ICUs in the Gaza Strip, a third of them already in use by non-COVID-19 patients. There are 64 ventilators, of which only 15 are operative. In the director’s opinion, Gaza needs between 50 and 100 ventilators to be able to cope with an outbreak of the virus. He added that the WHO was working to enlist resources to provide Gaza with medical equipment, especially ventilators and ICU beds for a possible COVID-19 outbreak. Two thirds of the sum necessary for funding the purchase of medical equipment and medicine, about $24 million, has already been transferred by international organizations, including the WHO and UNICEF (al-Khalij Online, March 18, 2020; AP, March 22, 2020; Palestine Online, March 23, 2020).
• Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the ministry of health in the Gaza Strip, appealed to international and aid organizations for $23 million to support the health system in Gaza with ventilators, ICU beds, medicine, disposable medical equipment, laboratory equipment and materials for laboratory tests to be able to provide a first response if there is a spread of COVID-19. He made the appeal on March 26, 2020, and again on March 27 and 28 (al-Ra’i news agency, March 26-28, 2020).

Representatives of international organizations have been pessimistic about the Hamas administration’s ability to cope with an outbreak of the disease. Matthias Schmale, UNRWA director in the Gaza Strip, said “Everything I am hearing is if the outbreak reaches the magnitude where you need more than 60 ICU beds to treat, it will become increasingly difficult and could well turn into a disaster of gigantic proportions.” The head of the World Health Organization’s Palestinian office, Gerald Rockenschaub, said that “Gaza has only 60 intensive care (ICU) beds for its two million people and not all are operational due to staff shortage,” (Agence France-Presse, March 22, 2020).

Measures taken by the Hamas administration to prevent the spread of COVID-19

By March 22, 2020, 339 tests for COVID-19 had been performed in the Gaza Strip. All the Palestinians who returned to Gaza through the Rafah Crossing as of March 3 were self-isolated for the requisite two weeks. One thousand, six hundred and eighty Palestinians, 935 with underlying conditions, who returned to the Gaza Strip on or after March 15, are currently quarantined in 23 quarantine centers in Gaza (al-Ra’i news agency, March 27, 2020; the Hamas ministry of health, March 27, 2020).

• The following are the main measures taken by the Hamas administration in recent days:
  • The ministry of health announced that the period of quarantine would be extended from two weeks to three (al-Ra’i, March 28, 2020).
  • The ministry of Muslim endowments, after meeting with the Council of Islamic Scholars and Muftis in the Gaza Strip, announced the closing of the mosques from March 25 to April 7, 2020 (al-Ra’i, March 24, 2020).
  • The ministry of the interior announced that the crossings would remain closed to human passage. The movement of goods would be allowed and the control of prices would be increased (website of the ministry of the interior in the Gaza Strip, March 25, 2020).
  • The construction of 1000 quarantine units in the northern and southern Gaza Strip continues, with the personal involvement of Yahya al-Sinwar (head of the Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip), who exploits the building to promote his image with the local population.

    
Right: Yahya al-Sinwar visits the construction site in the northern Gaza Strip. Left: The quarantine units (Palestine Online Twitter account, March 28, 2020).

• The Hamas administration increased its “strategic reserves” of vital merchandise by exempting import taxes on 14 basic commodities. The ministry of agriculture limited the export of agricultural produce to ensure their availability in the markets and to oversee their prices (al-Ra’i, the website of the ministry of the economy, March 24, 2020).

    
Operatives of Hamas’ national security at the Rafah Crossing during the passage of trucks delivering merchandise (Safa Twitter account, March 28, 2020)

• The local municipalities were instructed to increase the disinfection of public facilities (al-Ra’i, March 24, 2020).

    
The Gaza City municipality disinfects the Friday market in the Sajaiya neighborhood, which was closed as a preventive measure (Facebook page of the Gaza City municipality, March 27, 2020).

     
The municipal police visit the markets in the Gaza City district
(website of the ministry of the interior, March 24, 2020).

Aid from Qatar

• Mohammed al-Emadi, chairman of Qatar’s National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, announced aid for the Palestinians in quarantine centers in the Gaza Strip, part of the $150 million donation from Qatar to Gaza over a period of six months. Qatar is donating food, basic electrical appliances, blankets and mattresses, and the fuel necessary to provide the centers with electricity. The aid will be distributed in collaboration with the Gazan ministries of social development and health (Facebook page of Qatar’s National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, March 24, 2020).

    
Aid from Qatar
(Facebook page of Qatar’s National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, March 24, 2020).

Aid from Israel

• The COGAT reported that on March 18 and 20, 2020, hundreds of COVID-19 test kits were delivered to the Gaza Strip along with hundreds of hazmat suits and face masks for medical personnel. The equipment was delivered through the Erez Crossing in coordination with the Israeli coordination and liaison unit. The equipment was donated by the WHO and the delivery was made in accordance with a request from the organization. That was in addition to hundreds of test kits delivered to the Gaza Strip the previous week to help the Gazan health and medical systems fight the spread of the virus. On March 26, 2020, 1,000 additional test kits were delivered by the WHO and transferrin to the Gaza Strip in coordination with the Israeli coordination and liaison unit (COGAT Facebook page in English, March 19, 20 and 26, 2020).

Blaming Israel

• Despite Israel’s help in transferring medical equipment from the WHO to the Gaza Strip, and despite the informal coordination with the local administration in Gaza, the Hamas campaign blaming Israel for the lack of medical equipment, medicine and a proper medical infrastructure continues.
• The following are the most prominent statements made by Hamas activists and members of the Hamas administration:
• Senior Hamas figure Mahmoud al-Zahar called Israel “fully responsible” for the difficulties Hamas is having in coping with COVID-19. He claimed Israel did not provide what was necessary for prevention, testing and treatment. He also claimed Israel is fully responsible for the health of the [Palestinian terrorist] prisoners, especially in the Megiddo jail, where he claimed there is “medical negligence” and that the necessary hygienic equipment is withheld (website of the Legislative Council in the Gaza Strip, March 26, 2020).
• Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the ministry of health in the Gaza Strip, claimed the “Israeli occupation” is fully responsible for the lives of two million Palestinians in Gaza. He accused Israel of the methodical destruction of the health system and humanitarian services in Gaza, which “puts us at a dangerous crossroads with COVID-19” (Shehab, March 24, 2020).
• At a different press briefing Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra said the resources of the ministry of health are limited and that there has been a continuous lack of medicine, medical equipment, laboratory equipment and COVID-19 test kits. He blamed the “Israeli occupation” and the “Israeli siege” for everything, claiming Israel endangers the lives of the two million Gazans facing a COVID-19 pandemic (al-Ra’i, March 25 and 27, 2020).

Return march cancelled

• The Supreme National Authority for the Return Marches and the Struggle Against the Deal of the Century announced the cancellation of the return march planned for March 30, 2020, to mark the anniversary of Land Day and the beginning of the return marches. The Palestinian public is instructed not to go to the return camps on March 30, and to stay home in order to keep healthy and not be exposed to COVID-19.
• The Supreme National Authority replaced the return march with information activities. The most important one will be a press conference in the return camp in eastern Gaza City on March 30 at 11:00 without the presence of an audience. Gazans are asked to burn Israeli flags and to halt their vehicles and blow their horns for five minutes at 12 noon on March 30 (Ma’an, March 28, 2020; al-Ra’i, March 28, 2020).

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