Israel Closes Coronavirus Testing Center For Palestinians in East Jerusalem

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Coronavirus testing
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Israeli law enforcement officers conducted a raid on a coronavirus testing clinic in Silwan, a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, shut it down, and arrested the staff there, according to a report by the Israeli daily Haaretz.

Tuesday’s raid took place on the grounds that the coronavirus test kits used at the facility were given by the Palestinian Authority.

The Israeli government does not permit the Palestinian administration to operate in Jerusalem. The tests in question were only allowed to be used in the West Bank.

The testing clinic was located at a mosque that was closed due to the general curfew in Israel.

Volunteers carrying out the tests at the clinic say there are not enough tests in the city, while a total of 40 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the sometimes deadly disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The densely populated city is feared to experience a fast increase in the infections of coronavirus. Palestinian officials are expecting such a spike during the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

In a similar move, Israeli police barred Palestinian Authority employees from disinfecting public spaces in the capital in March.

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