RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday called on Israel to investigate remarks made by Israel's Economy and Trade Minister, which made claims about killing Palestinians. Naftali Bennett, leader of the far-right Jewish Home partner, commented to Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot following news of a Palestinian prisoner release that: "If you catch terrorists, you have to simply kill them." "I've killed lots of Arabs in my life – and there's no problem with that," he went on to say. The PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that based on these confessions, "the Israeli government has to open a transparent and legal investigation into these remarks and allow Palestinian rights advocates to follow the investigation." more
Until now, the besieged Gaza Strip has stayed free of the novel coronavirus spreading across the world. As the Gaza Strip has been under a stringent Israeli-led blockade for nearly 13 years, the spread of the coronavirus - officially known as COVID-19 - has become the topic of discussion for many Palestinians, with some joking that the blockade was preventing them from being exposed.But as authorities in the coastal Palestinian enclave gear up to contain any potential outbreak, serious questions have arisen about the risks and implications of such a scenario. But given its already difficult humanitarian situation and high population density, an outbreak in the Gaza Strip could prove to be catastrophic, health officials have warned. "If the virus enters Gaza and spreads, it will get out of hand," Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Majdi Thuhair told Middle East Eye, as he explained that a severe shortage of resources and personnel would make it near impossible