Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett is considering closing off all Palestinian Authority-governed areas of the occupied West Bank to control the spread of the coronavirus, the Times of Israel has reported.
Gaza is woefully unprepared to deal with any public health crisis thanks to the Israeli-occupation. That makes an outbreak of Coronavirus a nightmare scenario writes Ramzy Baroud. https://t.co/zi4rGpKkQs
— Mark Aziz (@birdtrees) March 5, 2020
Bennett’s office said he requested a detailed assessment of the economic ramifications of such a closure, which will be presented to him in a meeting today.
During a press conference yesterday discussing how Tel Aviv was going to be combatting the virus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel and the US would be developing solutions for the widespread screening of patients in order to detect the virus.
Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday instructed officials in his office to present him with the potential economic implications of closing the West Bank crossings following the spread of the coronavirus in the Palestinian Authority https://t.co/dc1gWWWg18 pic.twitter.com/Geya5ZAg8m
— The New Times (Rwanda) (@NewTimesRwanda) March 9, 2020
Netanyahu also said that the steps Israel has taken against the coronavirus “have proven themselves,” adding, “if we take further steps they will be applied to all countries.”
Following the discovery of seven cases of coronavirus in occupied Bethlehem last week, all entrances and exits to the area were closed to contain the disease. On Friday and Saturday, more people tested positive for the virus, bringing the total number of those infected to 25, reported Palestinian news agency WAFA.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
