Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations strongly criticized a letter by the Palestinians to the U.N. Security Council accusing Israel of impeding efforts by the Palestinian Authority to combat the coronavirus pandemic in the West Bank.
“As Israel remains open and able to help the Palestinians living under P.A. rule to combat the spread of the coronavirus, the P.A. only remains interested in continuing its diplomatic warfare against Israel,” Danon said in a statement.
“The Palestinian leadership will have to choose between slandering or receiving support from Israel. It cannot have both,” he continued. “Its rhetoric against Israel, the [Israel Defense Forces] and the Jewish people is inciting, baseless and threatens to undo any progress we’ve made in combating the virus.”
In his letter to the U.N. Security Council, Palestinian representative to the United Nations Riyad Mansour claimed that IDF soldiers are spitting on Palestinian cars and homes, and dumping trash, needles and used gloves between villages.
He also accused Israel of forcing Palestinian workers to return to P.A.-controlled territory through wastewater tunnels, so to smuggle them past P.A. authorities mandating coronavirus testing.
Late last month, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov praised the recent cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
