www.theguardian.com
They kinda did. When the pandemic started they opened the borders and anybody who wanted to visit Israel could do that with ease. Usually you needed to be accepted into Israel and that was really hard.
You thought the defacto Apartheid State is only kinda evil?
Holding off vaccines for 48 hours could cause innocents to die. Using this kind of leverage on Hamas is inhumane. I mean, our government is also holding captives - We just call it administrative detention. Essentially, IDF can straight up kidnap Palestinians off the street and arrest them without telling them what they're charged with or why they there, torture them or not allow them to talk to loved ones or a lawyer for MONTHS. They don't even have to prove anything to the court to do it.
But no one held vaccines from Gaza and it wasn't used for leverage so.. what's even your point?
I mean, IMO, the vaccines should have been expedited and allowed to leave ASAP to help save lives. Instead, they were approved after 48 hours, after deliberations by officials (and the public) on whether we should allow life saving medicine in to one of the densest places in the world during a pandemic. My point was that it's inhumane to not allow medicine in to save innocents.
It wasn't used as leverage, it wasn't even considered to be used as one. Just because some idiot Knesset members talk some nonsense, well, politicians, you know. Israel didn't even hold these vaccines; it's not like it was a shipment that was confiscated by Israel and held for 48 hours. It was a request, the PLO has some Russian vaccines and had asked Israel if it would transport some of them to Gaza and Israel said yes. The process took ~48 hours and in the meantime families of victims asked for them to be used as leverage and so did some idiot members of the Knesset.
Nothing to see here folks. The Israeli government, known for war crimes, inhumane treatment of Palestinians, countless violations of human rights, only delayed vaccines for bureaucracy.
I mean, that's not entirely true. In the length of these 48 hours, the PLO's health minister has said Israel has been holding these vaccines, and similarly people started pointing finger at Israel not allowing the vaccines - That's because military officials couldn't reach a conclusion (likely not wanting to anger anyone from the right wing nuts who run this country) so they moved the decision to the executive to decide. it was at this point where the PLO's health minister said that Israel is not allowing the vaccines in - Quite understandable IMO, since you'd assume or at least hope no one would have to specially approve life saving medicine. (Link in Heb to the where I get the info. )
I agree.
I totally agree.
