JERUSALEM – There was little room to move on the popular Omar al-Mukhtar Street in Gaza City on the eve of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, when clusters of Palestinians – almost none with masks – filled in colorful clothing stores and round-up thesis for food.
“If it was a virus here, we would not be so close to each other,” said Saber Siam, 28, a salesman at a clothing store selling imported items from China and Turkey. “You would not find me holding the customer’s arm or kissing his cheek to encourage him to buy our clothes.”
The Gaza Strip block is perhaps one of the only places in the world where no cases of coronavirus transmission have been reported – an achievement attributed to the isolation of the coastal enclave and rapid measures taken by its militant Hamas rulers.
However, the pandemic did not leave Gaza untouched.
Due to the need to fight the virus, the various government agencies controlling the borders of Gaza have imposed new restrictions on movement outside the territory. This has exacerbated an already challenging situation for Palestinians who say they must urgently travel to Israel and the West Bank, as well as for those who want to escape the grim economic reality by emigrating through Egypt.
In March, out of fear of the potentially catastrophic consequences of an outbreak in Gaza, Hamas authorities ordered all travelers returning to Israel and Egypt to the territory to enter into a quarantine facility for three weeks. They could not quarantine until they had two virus tests.
The system seems to have succeeded, saving Gaza’s health sector, already destroyed by years of war and conflict, from additional penalties. Medical officials discovered all 78 known infections on the ground at quarantine facilities.
Yet experts do not rule out the possibility that the pandemic may spread in the densely populated cities and towns.
“All it takes is one small mistake,” said Gerald Rockenschaub, head of the World Health Organization’s mission to the Palestinians. “There is no guarantee that the virus will not enter.”
Mr Rockenschaub also warned that Gaza lacks the resources to deal with a widespread outbreak, noting that medical institutions carry only about 100 adults for adults, most of whom are already in use.
Hamas first imposed other restrictions on Gaza. But it later picked up many of them, enabling residents to follow important parts of their daily routines. They flocked to beaches, exercised at gyms, ate at restaurants, prayed at mosques and shopped in markets, among other activities.
“We are glad we did not face the deaths we have experienced in other countries,” said Moath Abed, 29, an unemployed nurse living in Gaza City.
Israeli authorities have allowed Palestinians in need of emergency medical treatment and lifesaving to use the Erez crossing – the only gateway between Israel and Gaza.
But they have strict restrictions on movement for others on the territory, and have created problems for people like Munir Sabitan, 53, a Gaza City resident who works in kitchen installation.
Mr. Sabitan visited his wife and three children, who are Arab citizens of Israel, with a permit from a merchant. In March, however, Israel froze these permits as the virus began to spread in its communities.
Now Mr Sabitan is worried that he will miss his daughter’s wedding in the Negev desert if Israel does not get him permission to cross the border soon.
“The wedding has been postponed twice, but it will not be again,” he said, noting that the new date was August 17. “I feel relieved from this experience. My daughter calls every day and I tell her I’m still waiting for permission.”
Gisha, an Israeli rights group that controls Gaza well, called on the Israeli authorities on behalf of Mr Sabitan, saying they were applying “a double standard” to him because they had allowed immediate family members of other Israelis into the country. to take part in weddings, bar mitzvahs and funerals.
“Israel is effectively punishing its closure on Gaza under the guise of the pandemic,” the group said.
The authorities have continued with the entrance of Mr. Refusing to allow Sabitan to point out the pandemic, as well as the Palestinian Authority’s May decision, which governs Palestinians in the West Bank, to halt coordination with Israel to protest Israel’s threats to take part in the To annex Westbank.
Among the issues that the authority will not coordinate are travel permits for Palestinians in Gaza, making it harder to apply for them.
The coordinator of government activities in the territories, the Israeli Ministry of Defense responsible for issuing permits to Palestinians, declined to comment on specific cases. But it said it had worked “round the clock” to “provide the best and most appropriate response” to Gaza’s needs.
“We note that the restriction of movement through the Erez crossing for exceptional medical and humanitarian cases is only intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus,” it said.
There are tens of thousands of active cases in both Israel and Egypt, while there are more than 6,000 among Palestinians in the West Bank.
Iyad al-Bozom, the spokesman for the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, said that since the pandemic, authorities in Gaza have allowed Palestinians with valid Israeli permits and “urgent travel needs” to leave the enclave via Erez. He said that if Mr Sabitan got a permit, he could leave the territory.
For the same reasons, Neveen Zanon (41), a resident of Rafah, has also not been able to get permission to visit her father in Nablus, where he suffers from esophageal cancer.
“He barely has enough energy to talk on the phone,” she said. “I’m afraid he will not be with us when I get a permit to see him.”
The coronavirus breaks out>
Frequently Asked Questions
Updated August 6, 2020
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Why are bars linked to outbreaks?
- Think about a bar. Alcohol flows. It may be loud, but it’s perfectly intimate, and you often have to pull close to hear your friend. And strangers have way, way less reservations about arriving at people in a bar. That’s kind of the point of a beam. Feeling good and close to strangers. It is therefore no surprise that bars have been linked to outbreaks in several states. Louisiana health officials have linked at least 100 cases of coronavirus to bars in the Tigerland nightlife district of Baton Rouge. Minnesota has 328 recent cases to track around the state. In Idaho, health officials close down bars in Ada County after reporting clusters of infections among young adults who visited several bars in Boise downtown. Drivers in California, Texas and Arizona, where cases of coronavirus have increased, have lined up hundreds of newly opened bars to close. Less than two weeks after Colorado’s bars were re-restricted with limited capacity, Gov. Jared Polis has closed.
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I have antibodies. Am I immune now?
- At the moment, that probably seems like at least several months. There have been horrific accounts of people suffering what appears to be a second bolt of Covid-19. But experts say these patients may have a prolonged course of infection, with the virus taking a slow toll weeks to months after initial exposure. People infected with the coronavirus typically produce immune molecules called antibodies, which are protective proteins made in response to an infection. These antibodies may only last two to three months in the body, which may seem worrying, but that is perfectly normal after an acute infection progresses, said Dr. Michael Mina, an immunologist at Harvard University. It could possibly get the coronavirus back up, but it is highly unlikely that it would be possible in a short window of time from initial infection or the second time safe.
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I am a small business owner. Can I get relief?
- The incentive letters introduced in March offer help to the millions of American small businesses. Those eligible for assistance are non-profit companies and organizations with less than 500 workers, including sole proprietorships, independent contractors and freelancers. Some larger companies in some sectors are also eligible. The assistance provided, which is managed by the Small Business Administration, includes the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Damage Disaster Program. But many people have not yet seen benefits. Even those who have received help are confused: the rules are draconian, and some are stuck on money they do not know how to use. Many small business owners get less than they expected or heard nothing at all.
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What are my rights if I am worried about returning to work?
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What will school look like in September?
- It is unlikely that many schools will return to a normal schedule this fall, requiring grinding online learning, probationary childcare and stunted workdays to continue. California’s two largest public school districts – Los Angeles and San Diego – said on July 13 that instruction will be remote only in the fall, citing concerns that growing coronavirus infections in their areas pose too great a risk to students and teachers. Together, the two districts enroll about 825,000 students. They are the largest in the country to date to abandon plans for even a partial physical return to classes when they reopen in August. For other districts, the solution will not be an all-or-nothing approach. Many systems, including the nation’s largest, New York City, are hybrid plans to spend some days in classrooms and other days online. There is no national policy yet, so check regularly with your municipal school system to see what is happening in your municipality.
She said that when her mother was ill in 2011, she could only get a permit after her funeral took place.
“I do not want to go through such a painful experience again,” said Ms. Zanon, who lives in a cramped two-room apartment with her husband and six children.
In March, Egypt and Hamas sealed the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza for people trying to leave Gaza. Mr. Al-Bozom of the Interior Ministry said Hamas was worried that quarantine facilities could become overcrowded if too many Palestinians left Gaza from Rafah and then returned shortly thereafter.
But the new restriction has complicated the plans of many young Palestinians hoping to escape the poor living conditions in Gaza, where youth unemployment is more than 60 percent and poverty is rampant.
Nidal Kuhail, 26, plans to quit his job at a restaurant in Gaza City, where he earns $ 13.22 a day, and moves to Europe to study or work. Now his plans are pending.
“There is no future or horizon here,” said Mr Kuhail, who studied German at a cultural institute in Gaza. “The jobs are so bad and so many people are desperate. I feel like I have no choice but to immigrate. ”
In Gaza, 32 percent of Palestinians said they wanted to emigrate because of the economic, political and social situation, according to a June poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Research.
Egypt opened Rafah in May 2018 after years of keeping it largely closed, and thousands, and perhaps tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have moved abroad.
Mr Kuhail, who left Gaza only once in his life, said he still hoped he would find a way to Europe.
“I will make it eventually,” he said. “I know when I do that, I’ll be in a place where there are opportunities to build a decent life.”
Adam Rasgon reported from Jerusalem and Iyad Abuheweila from Gaza City.
