Australia Contributes $1 Million of Coronavirus Aid to Palestine

Sydney, MINA – Australia announced a contribution of $1 million to help battle the novel coronavirus outbreak in Palestine.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced a grant of US$ 1 million via the World Health Organization (WHO) for the procurement of medical equipment and technical supply to help Palestine rein in the pandemic outbreak, while confirming her country’s support of the Palestinian people’s needs and the two-state solution, as quoted from WAFA on Friday.

Payne made the announcement in an official letter that was handed by the Australian Ambassador to Palestine, Mark Bailey, to the Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister, Riyad Al-Maliki, during a meeting at the ministry headquarters in Ramallah.

During the meeting, al-Maliki briefed the Australian diplomat on the latest political developments on the Palestinian arena, while stressing the need to safeguard the principle of the two-state solution in accordance with international law and the agreed-upon international standards, in order to bring stability and lasting peace in the Middle East.

He made reference to President Mahmoud Abbas’s recent decree to hold legislative and presidential elections.

He praised Australia’s excellence in facing the pandemic, expressed the Palestinian government’s interest in obtaining Australian support due to the surge in the Covid-19 cases and deaths, and highlighted the deteriorating health conditions in the occupied territories and the efforts of Palestinian medical teams to help curb the pandemic outbreak.

He also referred to the Palestinian government’s intensive contacts with various countries to help secure the Covid-19 vaccine, as he stressed the obligation of Israel, as the occupying power, to provide the Covid-19 vaccine to the occupied Palestinian population in compliance with international human rights standards.(T/R3/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)