PA spokesman on Palestinian laborers staying in Israel; coordination with PA, Egypt, Jordan over Coronavirus

Official PA TV News, statements by PA Government Spokesman Ibrahim Melhem

PA Government Spokesman Ibrahim Melhem: "Today [March 17, 2020] the National Emergency Committee, led by [PA] Prime Minister Dr. Muhammad Shtayyeh, convened and made a number of decisions that aim to achieve the goal that the government has set for itself in the framework of the ongoing emergency situation regarding preventing the [Corona] epidemic's spread, containing it, and reducing the scope of its spread into Palestine.

And among these decisions – to give the laborers working in Israel three days in order to organize their affairs in order to sleep at their places of work [in Israel] in coordination with their employers, because crossing between the Palestinian territories and the Interior (i.e., Israel) will be forbidden at the end of the time period that has been given. We demand that the laborers working in the illegal Israeli settlements in our territories not go to them in order to protect their health, and the health of their families and people – and this is following a number of cases that were recorded among the settlers. Israel is fully responsible for the health of the Palestinians in Jerusalem as an occupying force, and it must take all means to protect them and their health.There is coordination between our brothers in Egypt and Jordan to close the bridges and crossings fully and in both directions. This is while making an exception for the movement of commerce and the humanitarian cases, and as part of the protective measures agreed on by both sides…

We are acting in coordination with the government of Jordan in order to regularize the return of the Palestinian citizens who are passing through the airport and were put into quarantine in Jordan in a manner that will guarantee the health of both sides."