Thousands of Covid Vaccines from UAE Arrive in Gaza

Thousands of Covid Vaccines from UAE Arrive in Gaza

Around 20,000 coronavirus vaccine doses from the UAE arrived in Gaza Sunday, a delivery reportedly orchestrated by a rival of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas three months before scheduled Palestinian elections.

The Russian-made Sputnik V doses entered Gaza via the Rafah crossing with Egypt, AFP journalists said -- meaning they did not pass through Israel, which has maintained a tight blockade on Gaza since 2007. 

Last week, Mohammed Dahlan, a former top member of Abbas's Fatah party now exiled in the United Arab Emirates, announced the delivery of the vaccines as a "generous grant" from Abu Dhabi. 

Dahlan, currently a security adviser to UAE strongman Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, has claimed credit for the delivery, which some Palestinians are seeing as a political move ahead of May and July legislative and presidential polls.  

A statement Sunday from a dissident branch of the Fatah party Dahlan controls said the vaccines were for "medical teams" in Gaza, which has not yet begun a general vaccination campaign. 

Analysts are watching Dahlan's moves closely ahead of the Palestinian elections, the first since with 2006, amid speculation he may try to mount a challenge to Abbas's camp. 

A first batch of vaccine doses arrived in Gaza this week, part of