With social, economic and humanitarian systems already near collapse, experts say outbreak would trigger catastrophe
With some 1.9 million people, most living in poverty and under crowded conditions, Gazans have more to fear than most from the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Ironically, the blockade and the isolation imposed by Israel and Egypt since Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 have played a key role in protecting it from the disease. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, there have been no cases of the deadly coronavirus so far.
Salama Ma’arouf, the head of the Hamas government media office, told The Media Line that prevention and awareness-raising measures had been undertaken.
“Nearly a month ago, a special committee was formed, basically from the Health Ministry and other governmental and civil bodies, and it issued some meaningful recommendations, notably setting up a quarantine facility with a capacity of 54 rooms and a field isolation hospital of 46 rooms at the Rafah border crossing [to Egypt]. Thermographic cameras were installed at both borders – Rafah and the Erez crossing [to Israel] – to check returnees and identify those suspected of being infected,” Ma’arouf said.
Ashraf Alqedra, the spokesperson for Gaza’s Health Ministry, told The Media Line that “over the last 14 years, Gaza has been suffering from severe medical shortages of up to 50% of the needed medicines and medical supplies, and from Israel undermining the work of the health system.”
Nevertheless, Alqedra said the Strip was capable of dealing with the virus and that all the health sector bodies were continuously on guard and working together to protect the population.
Many disagree.
Mansour Abokrayyem, a Gaza-based political analyst and commentator, believes the Strip cannot withstand an additional crisis.
“There are extremely high rates of poverty, unemployment and food insecurity. With its collapsed social, economic and humanitarian conditions, the Gaza Strip wouldn’t make it if the coronavirus came in,” he told The Media Line.
“Who would take responsibility for the situation if the virus hit the enclave? Would it be Hamas, which failed against the Nuseirat fire [a reference to a fire in the Nuseirat refugee camp last week that killed 13 persons and injured 55 others]? Or the Palestinian Authority, which is completely absent from the scene [in the Strip]? Or the NGOs and UNRWA [the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees], which already suffer from severe funding problems?” Abokrayyem asked.
“This could be a real catastrophe,” he said.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last week declared a state of emergency in all Palestinian areas that would last 30 days.
But Gaza’s governmental media office announced that Abbas’ statement did not apply to the Strip. “There will be no need to declare a state of emergency in Gaza as long as no coronavirus cases are recorded,” Ma’arouf said in a statement.
Gaza’s universities suspended study for 30 days. Other schools did the same, for seven days only.
The lack of agreement is viewed by ordinary Gazans as political squabbling between the Strip and the West Bank that puts the public’s health at risk.
Abokrayyem considers this one of the worst consequences of the Palestinian division. “Hamas is trying to separate Gaza from any decision taken by the West Bank [the PA], on the grounds that Gaza is an independent entity,” he said.
He elaborated: “Today, Gaza has its own institutions, judicial organs and security bodies that are fully independent of their counterparts in the West Bank. There is almost no coordination between the two sides except in the health and education fields.”
Although no cases of the novel coronavirus have been identified in Gaza, the Strip is definitely experiencing its impact.
A’hed Herzallah, who drives for a living, told the Media Line: “This street is usually full of people. Look at it, it’s completely empty! Nowadays I earn 50% of what I did before the coronavirus thing.”
Layla, a mother of four, told The Media Line: “I’m afraid; I’ve become too depressed to care. I no longer fear the coronavirus threat. We live in the worst conditions anyway. But I worry about my kids; I try to protect them as much as I can.”
If the pandemic reaches the coastal enclave, it will put Israel in a delicate position, according to Amos Harel, the veteran defense correspondent of Israel’s Haaretz newspaper. In an analysis titled “Israeli Security Officials Dread Having to Handle a Gaza Coronavirus Outbreak,” he wrote on Wednesday:
“If the virus spreads in the Strip, Israel will have difficulty shirking responsibility for it. The international community has never accepted Israel’s argument that it stopped being responsible for Gaza after the disengagement [withdrawal from the Strip] of 2005.”
That’s why Abokrayyem believes Israel will take rapid action if the virus reaches Gaza.
“Regarding diseases, there has always been cooperation between the Israeli side and the West Bank and Gaza, which is not surprising because, eventually, there is mutual contact between the Palestinian and the Israeli peoples, and Israel works for the favor of its citizens.”
Abokrayyem continued: “Even without the coronavirus issue, there is continuous communication and cooperation [between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza], for example in maintaining the ‘calm’ [informal truce] in the area.”
Harel in his analysis raised the issue of the 7,000 Gazan merchants and workers to whom Israel has issued permits allowing them to enter and work in Israel, asking: “Does it [Hamas] halt a critical source of income for the Strip to prevent the introduction of the coronavirus?”
Abokrayyem commented, “I don’t think Hamas would do that. Both the Rafah and the Erez crossings are still operating, even though both Egypt and Israel are infected areas.”