On Thursday, two patients were discovered in the Gaza Strip • With a third-world health system, the outbreak of disease in Gaza pushes it to Israel's arms with a call for assistance • Interpretation

About 55 patients in the West Bank are currently infected with the virus, and last Thursday, two patients were discovered in the Gaza Strip, who came from Pakistan via Egypt and are now in isolation at the Rafah terminal. In the Gaza Strip, there is a very problematic combination of third-world medical systems, the world's highest population density, and difficulty in enforcing the guidelines of the health authorities.

PM Netanyahu Tackles Corona // Photo: Roy Abraham - GPO

The outbreak of the disease among the Palestinians pushes them into the arms of Israel, because they are entirely dependent on the medical assistance it provides to stop the spread of the disease. But the Corona crisis reveals a well-known, well-known truth that many still deny, that it is difficult and perhaps already impossible to separate Palestinians from Israelis, and that even the disengagement from Gaza has not really cut off the Strip from Israel.

The fabric of life in Judea and Samaria, where Jewish communities exist and alongside Palestinian communities, along with the fact that tens of thousands of Palestinians work for a living in Israel, all make it impractical to try to separate the two populations in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. But Gaza, too, where there seems to be a barrier between the Gaza Strip and Israel, becomes part of Israel's area of ​​responsibility, since Hamas can fire at Sderot or Tel Aviv, but is unable to really worry about the people of the Gaza Strip in the face of this kind of humanitarian crisis facing the world.

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The responsibility for Gaza also falls on Israel's shoulders, both because of the desire to contain an outbreak of the plague in Gaza, but also to contain domestic and international criticism that Israel does not accept responsibility for the health of Gaza residents. The fact is that Israel is already providing testing kits to the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip and is preparing for the possibility of There is a need to provide medical treatment, and even inpatient facilities, to thousands of patients if the situation worsens as has happened elsewhere in the world.

In Judea and Samaria, Israel is currently satisfied with the growing coordination between IDF civilian authorities and the Palestinian government, but it is clear that if the situation worsens, Israel will also need to be deeply involved in the effort to curb the spread of the disease in Judea and Samaria and certainly to Israel.

The almost complete silence on the border with the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria does not necessarily indicate that the days of Christ came and that the Palestinians became Zionists because of their growing dependence on Israel. For example, the Palestinian prime minister requires the release of banned terrorists from Israeli prisons so that they are not infested by Israel, and Hamas does not lower the flames of fire. But the facts on the ground speak for themselves, and in fact reflect a reality of intertwined life, one with the other, which even raging rhetoric cannot change.

The Corona crisis may therefore become a positive milestone in Israeli-Palestinian relations, recognizing the importance of the relationship with Israel, and that this connection is not only not easy to sever, but also has a Palestinian interest.