100 Christians in Sri Lanka get together in one voice appeal to the Government of Israel, to treat the Palestinian people with dignity and justice, at this critical juncture in history while the distressing spread of COVID-19 across Gaza and the West Bank.

While the Christians from Sri Lanka in solidarity with the people of Palestine the group welcomes the initial cooperation between the government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the facilitation of donated masks and medical supplies to reach health facilities in Palestine. Further, it calls on both the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to come to an agreement to work together, to eradicate the COVID-19 virus completely, from their respective administrative zones.

In light of the public health crisis in Palestine, the group calls on the government of Israel to;

• Secure the availability and access to food, water and medicines for all.
• Enable equitable distribution of testing resources between Jewish and Palestinian areas in Jerusalem.
• Guarantee the unrestricted movement of medical supplies and healthcare personnel, to scale-up COVID testing and treatment in Palestine, particularly in anticipation of the return of Palestinian workers, to observe Ramadan with their families.
• Assure all Israeli checkpoints adhere to WHO health and hygiene recommendations, including regular sanitizing of surfaces and public areas, and physical distancing.   
• Ensure adequate preventative measures (protective and hygienic facilities) are offered to Palestinian prisoners within the overcrowded Israeli military prison system.
• Release all child detainees, following appropriate testing, to avoid the pervasive spread of the virus within Israeli prisons and detention centres.
• Halt, with immediate effect, the destruction and seizure of property in the West Bank, in order to prevent escalating the humanitarian crisis.

The full text of the letter addressed to: Prime Minister, State of Israel

23^rd April, 2020

Hon. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister, State of Israel

Christians from Sri Lanka in Solidarity with the people of Palestine

As a group of Christians from Sri Lanka in solidarity with the people of Palestine, we are deeply concerned by the distressing spread of COVID-19 across Gaza and the West Bank, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) reporting 474 confirmed cases in Palestine, at the time of writing. We therefore, appeal to the Government of Israel, to treat the Palestinian people with dignity and justice, at this critical juncture in history.

We welcome the initial cooperation between the government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the facilitation of donated masks and medical supplies to reach health facilities in Palestine. Further, we call on both the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to come to an agreement to work together, to eradicate the COVID-19 virus completely, from their respective administrative zones. However, the long-standing restrictions imposed by the government of Israel on occupied Palestine, weakens the ability of the Palestinian systems to respond effectively to this deadly virus.  Further, as a result of over 50-years of military occupation, the health care infrastructure in the West Bank and especially in Gaza, have been struggling well before the breakout of this global pandemic. Currently, Gaza has only 78 ICU beds and 63 ventilators[1] for a population of over two million.

In light of the public health crisis in Palestine, we call on the government of Israel to;

• Secure the availability and access to food, water and medicines for all.
• Enable equitable distribution of testing resources between Jewish and Palestinian areas in Jerusalem.
• Guarantee the unrestricted movement of medical supplies and healthcare personnel, to scale-up COVID testing and treatment in Palestine, particularly in anticipation of the return of Palestinian workers, to observe Ramadan with their families.
• Assure all Israeli checkpoints adhere to WHO health and hygiene recommendations, including regular sanitizing of surfaces and public areas, and physical distancing.   
• Ensure adequate preventative measures (protective and hygienic facilities) are offered to Palestinian prisoners within the overcrowded Israeli military prison system.
• Release all child detainees, following appropriate testing, to avoid the pervasive spread of the virus within Israeli prisons and detention centres.
• Halt, with immediate effect, the destruction and seizure of property in the West Bank, in order to prevent escalating the humanitarian crisis.

We, as Christians from Sri Lanka in solidarity with the Palestinian people, urge the government of Israel to not undermine the global health effort to counter COVID-19, and instead, respond urgently to the basic humanitarian needs of Palestinians residing in Gaza and the West Bank.