The administration of US President Joe Biden is aiming for a "reset" in the relations between Washington and the Palestinians, the UAE-based The National newspaper reported on Wednesday.
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The newspaper cited a plan drafted by State Department officials that aims to restore the ties that went sour under former President Donald Trump.
According to the report, the plan includes calls for "economic, security and humanitarian" aid to the Palestinians, including through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, to which Trump stopped US contributions.
News of the US's plan came against the backdrop of the delivery of 60,000 coronavirus vaccine doses to the Palestinian Authority. This is the first vaccine shipment provided by the World Health Organization.
Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman Kamal al-Shakhra said authorities would receive 38,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 24,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The AstraZeneca vaccines will be kept in storage until the WHO reviews recent safety concerns.
An Israeli security official confirmed the shipment, which arrived in Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday, and said about a third of the vaccines would be sent to Gaza later on Wednesday.
These are the first doses to arrive through the WHO's COVAX initiative, a global humanitarian partnership that has been slow to get off the ground, facing shortages of cash and supplies as rich countries have galloped ahead with their vaccination campaigns.
Until now, the PA had received 2,000 doses from Israel and acquired another 10,000 doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine. Authorities in the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas, have received 60,000 doses in shipments organized by Mohammed Dahlan, a political rival of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who is based in the United Arab Emirates.
The PA has been criticized for using some of its limited supply to vaccinate senior officials and their security details, as well as the Palestinian soccer team. The Health Ministry defended its policies, saying more than 90% of its doses were given to front-line medics.
Also on Wednesday, David Elhayani, head of the Yesha Council – the umbrella organization of Jewish localities in Judea and Samaria – urged the Israeli government to take the cost of the vaccines it provided to PA from the funds the latter uses to issue monthly payments to terrorists and their families.
Ramallah's policy, dubbed "pay-for-slay," has earned it scathing international criticism, but Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has vowed to keep up terrorists' payments, even it if bankrupts the PA. Israel often deducts these funds from the taxes in collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority as part of a mechanism set in place in the 1993 Oslo Accords.
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According to the Jerusalem Post, Elhayani's call was echoed by Palestinian activist and businessman Mohammad Masad, a prominent advocate of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
"On behalf of both of us I call on the Israeli government to vaccinate the Palestinians. We live together, both in Judea and Samaria and in the State of Israel, and it is time to vaccinate everyone," Elhayani said.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
