Israel extends Covid-19 vaccine campaign to Palestinian labourers

Jerusalem - On Monday, the govt extended its programme to all 120,000 Palestinians with Israeli work permits.

Israel on Monday extended its Covid-19 vaccination campaign to Palestinians working in Israel or its West Bank settlements, after facing criticism for not providing more doses to Palestinians in occupied territory.

Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have received few vaccine doses to date and lag far behind Israel, which has vaccinated over 40 per cent of its population in one of the world's fastest rollouts.

Amid the disparity, Israeli employers had privately secured doses for thousands of their Palestinian labourers, many of them in construction. On Monday, the government formally extended its programme to all 120,000 Palestinians with Israeli work permits.

"We hope others in the West Bank, all of them, (will get) the shots," labourer Qais Ghaith said after receiving his first dose at a military checkpoint near Bethlehem, adding that because he works inside of Israel, "the government obligated (us) to take the shots."

"I hope my kids and my family and for the West Bank, all of them, (to) take the shot (so) all of us (will be) safe."