Palestinian Leaders Use Coronavirus to Attack Israel
by Khaled Abu Toameh • March 20, 2020 at 5:00 am
On March 18, Israel delivered hundreds of kits for detecting the coronavirus into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, together with equipment for medical protection. This is the same Gaza Strip from which Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups have been firing thousands of rockets at Israel for the past few years, and launching party-balloons carrying hidden bombs as recently as last week. In February alone, more than 40 rockets were launched into Israel from the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian leaders, who are pursuing their efforts to prosecute Israelis for "war crimes," have been concealing from their own people and the international community the fact that Israel is assisting them in the war on the coronavirus.
For Palestinian leaders, it seems that the war on Israel is more important than the battle against a pandemic and saving the lives of their own people. Yet, these leaders and their families, if they are diagnosed with the disease, will undoubtedly be the first to rush to Israel to seek medical treatment there.
What is the connection between US President Donald Trump's recently unveiled plan for Middle East peace and the coronavirus?
Palestinian leaders seem to believe that there is a connection between the peace plan, also known as the Deal of the Century, and the coronavirus pandemic. According to these leaders, Israel is taking advantage of the health crisis to implement the Trump plan and build new housing units for Jews in the West Bank. They are referring to Israel's intention to build a new road between the E1 area and Jerusalem, and 3,500 apartments in Ma'aleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem.
First, the building program in the area has been on the agenda for more than 20 years. All Israeli governments since Yitzhak Rabin's second tenure as prime minister in the 1990s have supported it.
