"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate."

• Forty-Five days have passed since the declaration of our measures, during which you were a role model for a highly committed society, with a high patriotic spirit.
• There is no time limit for this global crisis. Until now, there is no medication or vaccination for this pandemic. Protection is the only option. 
• Under the directions of President Mahmoud Abbas, our strategy has been evident since the beginning: through home quarantine, social distancing, banning gatherings and movement, then closing the affected areas, schools, universities, churches, and mosques.
• We have adopted health standards based on international criteria and consistent with the recommendations of the World Health Organization at the highest level of professional standards.
• We have faced three gaps: tourism and foreign visitors, bridges and crossings, and workers in Israel and the settlements. We completely controlled the first and the second, and we are partially managing the third.
• We have before us a set of challenges: the workers and their movement, the deterioration of the economic situation, in Palestine and the world, our ability to continue amid these conditions, to control of prices under a changing global context, and dealing with the issue of occupied Jerusalem and villages nearby the annexation wall and the 1967 borders.
• We have formed several committees to follow up on the crisis and its various aspects: the High National Emergency Committee, the emergency committees in the governorates, a health committee, an epidemiological committee, a security services committee, an economic committee, and a social committee.
• We have heard the civil society and the private sector and established the National Fund "Waqfet Ezz." We demand the Palestinian businessmen to support it by contributing it and tackling the economic and social repercussions of the crisis.
• We have controlled the virus in limited areas, and it did not spread to other places. For the past 45 days, there are uninfected governorates, thank God, including Tubas, Jericho, Qalqilya, Salfit, Nablus, Jenin, and Tulkarem – and to a certain extent.
• Movement of workers in Israel will remain the central gap in facing this pandemic, as 79% of the positive cases are among workers or individuals who have been in close contact with them.
• We realize the need of our works for their jobs. We are keen on the lives of our citizens and want to bridge the gaps in our side. Therefore, we have long asked for a meeting between the Palestinian and Israeli Labor Ministers- we have not yet received a response from the other side.
• Your commitment to prevent movement and maintain health safety measures is an essential component of our success in confronting the virus. However, it is still too early to announce the defeat of the virus, but together we win.
• We know about the demands of the different economic sectors to provide some facilities, especially for small professions. We are at the doorstep of Ramadan, which means the increase in the consumption of food and sweets and people will need liquidity to meet their financial needs.

Just as we have implemented measures in a timely manner, to protect our people from the virus, we will continue to strictly enforce the healthcare and preventive measures with facilities related to some businesses, economic enterprises and geographical areas, per the following: 

First: Health standards that enable us to control the spread of the virus and to achieve the required health conditions. We are keen on avoiding overcrowding in workplaces, maintaining the (required) distance between one worker and the other, continuous sterilization, monitoring and constant evaluation, and prohibiting visitation to hospitals.

Second: Economic standards that ensure the gradual acceleration of the economic wheel in productive projects, which include food, medicine, agriculture, and some service sectors and free professions. (Full operation for establishments with less than three workers, 50% with 3-7 workers, and 30%, including restricted procedures, for enterprises with ten workers and above).

Third: Security standards that guarantee maintaining the state of emergency and not to prejudice any measures that hinder the security services from performing its work. The governorates will continue to be strictly isolated from one another, except for the movement of trade, agricultural and food commodities, and medicines. 

With the approval of the President – and based on the recommendations of the Ministry of Health, the Government, the Emergency Committee and the Security Services: we are ready to take carefully-examined economic measures while maintaining public safety and tightening health measures. The general principle is to be gradual in the procedures and to balance between health and economy, and accordingly:

In the Governorates of Jericho, Tubas, Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Salfit, Nablus, and the governorates of the Gaza Strip, all of which are not infected or have limited cases:

A- Economic establishments that employ less than three workers, including agriculture, food, building workshops, garages, and individual professions, are allowed to work from 10 am to 5 pm.

B- It is allowed to open internet and communication service centers, and clothes, shoes, and accessories stores in these governorates on Fridays and Saturdays. Grocery shops and supermarkets should be closed on Friday.

C- The building workshops to operate regularly.

D- Private Taxis should work with one passenger per trip or two members of the same family – and all of this while maintain the safety conditions as follows

All of the above while maintaining the safety conditions as follows: keeping a distance between people. Overcrowding will not be allowed. Wearing masks and gloves and using sterilizers. Any store that does not comply with the safety conditions will be closed. It is advised for the elderly and recently recovered case to stay home.

In the Governorates of Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Hebron, to open:

A- Pharmaceutical and food factories with the mentioned safety conditions, and with 50% of the workforce.

B- The supermarkets, pharmacies, and oven shops (bakeries) will continue to operate as they are now, provided that supermarkets will close on Fridays. 

C- Sweetshops to open for delivery during the month of Ramadan in all governorates.

D- Internet and communication service centers, in addition to shoes, accessories, and clothing stores to open on Friday and Saturday.

E- Craft Shops such as a garage, carpentry workshop, or a blacksmith's shop, and other (similar) places will open on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, with no more than three people in each workplace.

F - Construction workshops outside the major cities are allowed to open within the specified working hours.

In All Governorates:

1. The factories producing for export are allowed to operate at a 50% rate, provided they should observe the indicated health and safety conditions. 

2. Mosques, churches, places of public gatherings, and mourning houses will remain closed. Celebrations, weddings, festivals, and Ramadan gatherings are prohibited.

3. Nurseries, schools, universities, and institutes remain closed. Alternative programs will be placed where necessary, and the Minister of Higher Education will provide clarifications on this matter tomorrow.

4. The General Secondary Exam will be on 30/5/2020, while ensuring the health, safety, and security arrangements, and the Minister will provide details on this in tomorrow’s briefing.  

Regarding Workers in Israel:

• The movement of workers between their workplaces inside Israel and their homes is prohibited until further notice. Daily movement through checkpoints is also forbidden and penalties will be imposed on violators until the workers' crossing is coordinated and organized with the other party. This should happen per the health procedures to preserve their safety and the safety of their community.
• Working in the colonies is strictly prohibited.

Regarding Banks and the Financial Sector:

• The stock market will be reopened starting on 3 May 2020 within the set safety conditions.
• Banks in Gaza, Nablus, Tubas, Qalqilya, Tulkarem, Jenin, Jericho, and Salfit to operate at a 60% rate of their operations – and also the insurance companies.
• In the governorates of Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Hebron, the operation is within the rate of the state of emergency as it’s now.

Ministries and Public Institutions:

• The pace of work remains the same as it is now in all governorates, where employees will go to work in their governorates. The Ministries of health, agriculture, finance, social development, and local government to maintain supervision and to assist the security services. 
• Working hours during Ramadan are from 10 am to 7 pm in all governorates. The movement will be strictly prohibited in all governorates after 7:30 pm. 
• We will review these procedures regularly, and if an increase in the spread of the virus is detected in one of the cities, villages, refugee camps, in any of the governorates, or broadly, we will return to imposing the stop-work procedures. 
• We will also expand the scope of testing. Today we can conduct more than 4,000 tests daily. The important thing is to protect the governorates and to prevent the infection from reaching uninfected areas. We will take punitive measures against any recorded violations.
• I am confident that you are trustworthy and sure of your high spirit of patriotism that is capable of commitment. Easter and the holy month of Ramadan can teach us patience.
• In the next meeting, we will talk about issues related to bank installments, returned checks, salaries, the contribution of NGOs and civil society, as well as protection of workers and issues of tenants in coordination with the relevant authorities and the monetary authority.
• I salute my brothers, the security cadres, and their remarkable performance. Also, the medical and nursing staff that continue to work day and night, the volunteers, the teams of the Ministries, including: Economy, Agriculture, Social Development, Labor Finance, and Local Government. As well as the Municipalities, (the authorities of) Water and Electricity – and the contributors to the national fund "Waqfet Ezz." 
• I salute the women, men, children, and the youth and their positive spirit. I salute the cadres of the authority and the factions fighting with us towards the elimination of the occupation and this illness.
• May the souls of our martyrs rest in peace. And I demand the release of the prisoners, especially the elderly, sick, children, and the women.
• I salute our people in the refugee camps, diaspora, and exile, and our students that we are doing everything possible for their return to their families.

Long Live Palestine.