 Hello and welcome to People's Dispatch. Today, we are joined by Shadah Audeh, the general director of the Palestinian Health Work Committees. And we're going to be talking about the COVID-19 situation in Palestine. We know that in the past couple of days, there has been a case of reported community infection in Gaza. There's been a lockdown. But also over the past few months, there have been a number of cases reported. So we would like to talk to Shadah about some of these issues. Thank you so much for joining us. So could you first give us a quick outline of what's happening right now, both of course in Gaza, but also in the West Bank regarding the COVID-19 situation? What has been the trajectory of the disease as well? OK, thank you for this kind of important interview and give us the space to talk about our situation and our response to COVID-19. In general, you know that as a Palestinian, we are under incubation. So we have the problem will be doubled because of the procedure of the occupation and because of the COVID-19. So the life for people in West Bank and Gaza is difficult because of this condition, because we consider incubation undermined the livelihood of the people at different level concerning the economic status, concerning the right to movement and to reach and to have the access to the services that are available. For example, in the West Bank, and people should they come from Gaza to be treated in the hospitals in the West Bank. This needs security permissions. And most of the permission for Gaza and people denied by the Israeli securities and they need to cross the borders. And the human rights organization always recommend percent or high percent of the people patient of cancer, patient of heart disease, patient of dialysis are waiting and waiting. And they are also subject to compromise to give them information if they want them to enter and take permission to be treated in the West Bank. And also people in the West Bank also suffer from difficulties to enter Jerusalem. Jerusalem also if I live in parts in West Bank and need to be treated in the hospital, in the Arab hospital inside Jerusalem, in East Jerusalem, I'm talking exactly. And I need also a security permission. So many people also they refuse their security permit to give them security permission. So they were undermined to reach this hospital. And so this our right to have an access for supervision and medical treatment is intensified by Israeli occupation and now because of also COVID-19. Our health care system is not ready to handle of this kind of benademic virus. But that's why the health care system in Palestine and the Palestinian Authority, they took an intensive measures as a preventive measures. They locked down for a long period because really our hospital is not capable to have difficult cases and they need intensive care treatment. And sorry to say that also the capacity of our existing equipment and shortage of staff and medical staff also still consider one of our conditions. And lately because most of medical equipment, medical supplies, devices need to be imported from outside the country because we don't have factors or we are dependent on the Israeli market. And lately because of the Israeli closure and the century deal by the American side and the Israeli side and the annexation of the land, they cut the relation between the Israeli and the coordination of the security and movement between the Israeli side and the Palestinian side. This also we respect this position by the Palestinian Authority and to maintain our rights and our self-determination. But also this affects our life at the level of economic status and the level of the health situation. There is a lot of also workers, Palestinian workers, they work inside the area of 1948 inside Israel and there is a Palestinian position that they ask the workers not to go inside the settlements for work or inside Israel because they do not treat it very well and they discriminate against them in terms of testing them or giving them all the protection they needed. So the source of the first source of COVID-19 were coming from workers inside the settlement and inside the Israeli side. And the Palestinian Authority, they took an action to examine the workers who came from the Israeli side and asked them not to go again unless after 14 days. We found that the Israeli side, they opened a legal opening in the walls instead of cross-borders to let the workers to go and not to go in the direct way because in the direct way they went in this area, in this way the Palestinians they know. So they give them an Israeli, they give an alternative, they open around 300 area, it's a legal opening to let the worker go through. This is one part. Also the condition that for example, the Palestinian side, they decide to do lockdown and to give extra measures to fight the COVID-19 because we don't have that much enough hospital equipped with high quality of people and medical staff and equipment. So we found that in Jerusalem and in the Israeli bar, they do not have this kind of precaution. They decided to let everything open and if people have the COVID-19, okay, they will go for treatment but will let the life go. So many people came from Jerusalem who have Jerusalem ID. They came, the Arabs inside the area 14-8. Also they came to the Palestinian side to visit the families for marketing and so on. This is another source of paradigmic that there is a discrepancy between the procedures that the Palestinian Authority put and the procedure that the Israeli side put. And because it's still the borders open because there is an area inside the West Bank is not under the Palestinian control, like the Air Force according to Oslo Accord. You find people, for example, they do not follow the precaution. They have weddings, parties, because you are not having control in our areas. Even they took services from the Palestinian Authority. So yes, the situation is very complicated on the ground because, for example, I'm living in a city and surrounded by villages around the city of Ramallah. Both of these villages, it's considered area C. So in Ramallah, they are, for example, people, they follow the lockdown procedures. People in the villages, because they are area C, they are under the control of the Palestinian Authority, they do not follow. And they go and travel, for example, to the city and the opposite. So this is, yes, make the difficulties in following the protocols and procedures. This is in one side. According to Gaza, all the people they know that there is a political division since long time. And Gaza is under siege more than 12 years now. And they were subject to three wars by Israeli. So Gaza is under, lives a very difficult situation in terms of daily life. There is a high level of poverty, high level of employment, high level, they are under siege. They can't travel outside. They can't come to West Bank. Now, and also the health care system suffer from the shortage of medication, shortage of equipment, always the heat fuel for the generators. The hospitals have difficulty to operate because of the lack of electricity, the lack of drinkable water, because they found that most of the water inside Gaza is contaminated. And this condition become worse and worse because of COVID. Recently, there is cases start in Gaza, which threaten and make the situation in Gaza. I hope that will be safe and be safety for them because we are very worried about the situation in Gaza if COVID-19 become more banana-like. Even the borders is closed. Even they are under siege. One case came from Gaza to Jerusalem to do treatment for her child. He needs a surgery. And she were infected. And she returned back to Gaza. And now there is another cases infected. And they found that local cases infected and they don't know the source. Even the border are closed. But we don't know if they have enough quarantine areas. We don't know if the hospitals is sufficient and ready to face the situation there. And even in West Bank, I'm talking about West Bank's national organization here. And they support the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian health care system. But in Gaza, the situation is more difficult. The access for all the supplies, all the medications, it's hard to be reachable for the people there. Yes, this is because of both the political division because of occupation and their procedure and the harmful procedure. I can say it because there is a bumping over parts of Jerusalem recently and also because of the COVID-19 in general.