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In the spirit of ‘not letting a good crisis go to waste’, the leadership of the Palestinian Authority is hoping the crisis caused by the outbreak of the Chinese coronavirus will force the Trump administration and Israel to trash the ‘deal of the century’.
The Palestinians hope that amid the coronavirus outbreak Israel and the United States would ditch “the deal of the century,” proposed by US President Donald Trump, Palestinian Ambassador to Moscow Abdel Hafiz Nofal said in an interview with Izvestia. According to him, the common threat has helped consolidate both political forces in Palestine — Fatah and Hamas — and also reconciled them during the fighting between the Arabs and Israel. According to the latest data, some 60 coronavirus cases have been recorded in the Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip, while over 1,600 people have been infected in Israel. The envoy noted that Russian organizations have expressed readiness to deliver medication to the Palestinians if the situation worsened, reported Russian state news agency TASS.
“All disputes between us and the Israelis have temporarily taken a back seat. Last week, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin called Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, asking him for cooperation in beating the coronavirus. A joint crisis center to combat the infection was set up,” the ambassador told Izvestia.
Nofal highlighted the shared understanding about the need for coordinating the policy of both sides in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The ambassador explained that on March 5, a state of emergency was introduced as well as a ban on leaving home without any dire need and a curfew. This enabled Palestine to limit the number of the coronavirus cases to 60 and no deaths have been recorded.
Moreover, 17 people have fully recovered, while others are in satisfactory condition. “At the moment, we are trying to iron out minor disputes with Israel regarding the situation of Palestinians working in Israel,” he noted, reported TASS.
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