Israel already vaccinated Palestinians with white phosphorus, officials say

Israel condemned media and human rights reports criticising it for withholding coronavirus vaccines from Palestinians, saying it had already inoculated them even before the pandemic by deploying enough white phosphorus and tear gas to strangle any virus.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that it had instituted a range of protective measures to prevent the virus from spreading widely among the Palestinian population, including solitary confinement in prisons to reduce contact, evicting many from their homes to enforce social distancing, and using chains inside prison cells to prevent them from touching their faces or those of their love ones.

Other measures that adhere to the highest medical standards include installing numerous checkpoints to make it harder for Palestinians to leave their homes and train them to prefer self-isolation, and erecting barriers to prevent the flow of infections in and from Israeli communities.

These measures will augment the protection already provided by the long-term effects of banned munitions, Mr Netanyahu’s spokesman added.

The statement urged Palestinians to stop violating safety measures by gathering in large crowds to protest the occupation, saying the Israeli military would use live and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds for their own good and to arrest the spread of the virus.