Israeli defense officials have reportedly sent a warning to the PA to stop the incitement.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHA nose-swab is taken from a driver at a drive-through coronavirus testing station in east Jerusalem, amid coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak April 2, 2020.(photo credit: AMMAR AWAD / REUTERS)
The Palestinian Authority on Monday stepped up its attacks on Israel in light of the outbreak of the coronavirus and again claimed that IDF soldiers were spitting in Palestinian communities in order to spread the disease.“Israel is not exporting the virus to the Palestinians, but they are agents of this epidemic, which is called the occupation,” said PA government spokesman Ibrahim Milhem. “When they end this occupation, we will talk. We are not only making charges, these are facts.”Milhem was responding to Israeli accusations that the PA has been mounting a “campaign of incitement” for the past week, accusing Israel of “spreading the virus” in Palestinian communities in the West Bank.Israeli defense officials have reportedly sent a warning to the PA to stop the incitement.Milhem accused Israel of obstructing the work of the PA to prevent the spread of the disease in east Jerusalem neighborhoods and villages. Israeli law bans the PA from operating in areas under Israeli sovereignty.“Under international laws, the occupation is responsible for the occupied people,” he said. “We are not able to carry out our duties towards our people in Jerusalem because of the complications of the occupation.”Milhem, who was speaking to reporters in Ramallah during his daily briefing on the coronavirus pandemic, scoffed at reports that Israel was helping the Palestinians curb the spread of the virus.“We hear a lot about this,” he said. “What do they give us? Assistance? They are raiding Palestinian cities and villages. Do they call this assistance? They open tunnels to allow workers [to return from Israel to the West Bank]. Is this the assistance they are talking about? They are throwing infected workers at the side of the road. Is this assistance? They come and arrest and spit in the streets. Is this assistance? The occupation is based on oppression and arrogance and undermining our national and health immunity.”Milhem said that Israel’s “oppressive measures” against Palestinian institutions and figures in Jerusalem were obstructing the PA’s efforts to combat coronavirus in the city. “That does not mean that we are not assuming our responsibility towards the residents of the capital,” Milhem said. “We are carrying out our duty, secretly and publicly.”Milhem condemned the arrest by the Israel Police of the PA minister for Jerusalem affairs, Fadi al-Hidmi, and the PA governor of Jerusalem, Adnan Ghieth, for carrying out illegal activities on behalf of the PA in Jerusalem. “They were arrested only because of their activities to protect our people from coronavirus,” he added. “We will continue to operate [in Jerusalem] through popular committees whose task is to protect our people. We are mobilized to help our people in the holy city.”
Milhem said the PA was in touch with several international parties to explain how Israel was using the coronavirus crisis to “persecute” the Palestinians while they are “facing the epidemic and the enemies.” He noted that PA Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh last week asked the Russian foreign minister to intervene to prevent Israel from “annexing” any part of the West Bank.
