Member of Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Dr. Hanan Ashrawi denounced on Friday, Israel’s actions which she described as hampering Palestinian efforts, underway, to fight the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
In a statement released Friday, the high-ranking Palestinian official, Dr. Ashrawi maintained that the latest Israeli police arrest of Palestinian minister for Jerusalem’s affairs in the internationally-recognized occupied city of East Jerusalem, would indicate that Israel is hampering Palestinian efforts to curb the Coronavirus, across Palestinian-populated areas, including Arab East Jerusalem.
“Being the occupying power, as stated in the international law, Israel should, instead, respect the provisions of the law, which obliges Israel to facilitate all Palestinian efforts to protect Palestinian residents, who are subject to Israeli occupation”, Ashrawi’s statement read.
The leading Palestinian figure also noted that since the spread of Coronavirus, Israeli occupation authorities have been neglecting the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem by not helping them get needed medical checkups or testing for the virus.
Ashrawi added that given Israel’s negligence of East Jerusalem-based Palestinian residents, including some officials, have taken the lead and began providing medical care to Palestinians in the various neighborhoods of the Arab old city of Jerusalem.
She reiterated that Israel, being an occupying power, has apparently seized the opportunity, while most of world countries are struggling against Coronavirus, by further taking ‘racist extremist’ actions against Palestinians.
She referred to recent Israeli authorities’ invasion of Palestinian neighborhoods in the occupied city of East Jerusalem, embarking on arrest campaigns of Palestinian residents there.
Ashrawi’s statement also noted that Israel, in doing so, has not complied with United Nations Secretary General’s appeal to all world countries to refrain from any form of violence and focus rather on ways to fight back the Coronavirus.
Ashrawi’s statement came hours after Israeli police reportedly arrested Fadi Aldahmi, Palestinian Authority’s minister for East Jerusalem affairs in the occupied city of East Jerusalem.
Over the past few weeks, media reports have shown a series of Israeli authorities’ abduction of Palestinian residents in occupied West Bank cities, towns and villages.
Image: Palestine News Network
