COVID-19:

 

-In light of the alarming increase of COVID-19 delta variant cases, it became clear to us that unvaccinated people make up the vast majority of infected cases. Therefore, I call upon all citizens who have not yet received the vaccine to quickly get vaccinated in health centers in all governorates to protect themselves and their society from the new waves of infection, so that we don’t find ourselves forced to return to previously implemented measures and procedures.

 

-I invited The Higher National Emergency Committee to convene today to assess the epidemiological situation and discuss possible ways to confront the new wave of the virus.

 

-Willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and adherence to wearing masks, maintaining social distance and avoiding crowded areas, will preserve the safety of our citizens and our society. This would enable us to confront COVID-19 without incurring economic losses like these caused by previous lockdowns. In addition, it would create a safe environment for our children to continue face-to-face education in schools and universities.

 

-Choosing not to get vaccinated is no more a matter of personal freedom. An individual’s freedom ends when they harm the health of others, especially the most vulnerable groups (the ill and elderly).

 

-The Cabinet approved a decision, which entered into force, to give an unpaid leave- until the end of the pandemic- for all government employees who did not receive COVID-19 vaccines.

 

Israeli Violations:

 

-On the 52nd anniversary of the arson attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the ongoing aggression against Christian and Islamic holy sites, particularly the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque, by the Israeli occupying forces and settlers, as well as ethnic cleansing and forced displacement attempts against the indigenous Palestinian owners of the land, place, history and identity require immediate international, Arab, and Islamic intervention to put an end to the violations and crimes of the occupation.

 

-We warn of the dangerous repercussions of racism and discrimination policies practiced by Israel, especially in occupied Jerusalem, and in all villages and towns in the West Bank, which witnessed house demolitions, property confiscations, and killings of children and youth while defending their land and homes. We call upon the international community to stop Israel’s killing operations of our children. Recently, the pace of aggression against our people in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, has increased, while the siege on our people in the Gaza Strip has been tightened following the recent aggression on the Strip, and the reconstruction mechanism has been hindered.

 

-We condemn the determination of the so-called “Jewish National Fund” to allocate large sums of money to seize thousands of dunams in the West Bank and East Jerusalem settlement/ colonization expansion purposes. This constitutes an embodiment of annexation efforts and destroys the possibility of establishing an independent State of Palestine.