Thousands of COVID vaccines from UAE arrive in Gaza

RAFAH, Palestinian Territories — Around 20,000 coronavirus vaccine doses from the UAE arrived in Gaza Sunday, a delivery reportedly orchestrated by a rival of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas three months before scheduled Palestinian elections.

The Russian-made Sputnik V doses entered Gaza via the Rafah crossing with Egypt, AFP journalists said — meaning they did not pass through Israel, which has maintained a tight blockade on Gaza since 2007.

Last week, Mohammed Dahlan, a former top member of Abbas' Fateh Party now exiled in the United Arab Emirates, announced the delivery of the vaccines as a "generous grant" from Abu Dhabi.

Dahlan, currently a security adviser to UAE Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has claimed credit for the delivery, which some Palestinians are seeing as a political move ahead of May and July legislative and presidential polls.

A statement on Sunday from a dissident branch of the Fateh Party Dahlan controls said the vaccines were for “medical teams” in Gaza, which has not yet begun a general vaccination campaign.

Analysts are watching Dahlan’s moves closely ahead of the Palestinian elections, the first since with 2006, amid speculation he may try to mount a challenge to Abbas’s camp.

A first batch of vaccine doses arrived in Gaza this week, part of a Sputnik V supply secured by the Abbas-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA).

The PA has said it will share its supply with Hamas in Gaza.

That shipment was sent by the PA from the occupied West Bank through Israel, which had initially blocked its delivery to Gaza.

The Israeli military department responsible for civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories has said that it requires “political” instructions before allowing vaccines into the coastal enclave, where Israel has fought three wars against Hamas since 2008.

Both Hamas and the PA have accused Israel of violating international law by stemming the free flow of vaccines into Gaza.

Meanwhile, rights groups and the UN have called on Israel, currently the world leader in vaccinations per capita, to ensure that Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are vaccinated.