Will World War C bring about arrangement between Israel and Gaza?

Israel and the Gaza Strip are once again at war. But this time the enemy isn’t in the form of rockets or airstrikes but rather an invisible enemy.

In early March, the first positive diagnosis was announced in the West Bank city of Bethlehem and quickly spread across the Palestinian territories.

Israel, in coordination with Palestinian Authority forces, imposed a closure on Bethlehem and more recently, closed all crossings to and from the West Bank save for humanitarian cases.

Yet, there was a sliver of hope with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, where there had been no cases in the blockaded coastal enclave… until yesterday, when two men who had just returned from Pakistan via Egypt were diagnosed.

There were jokes going around in Gaza prior to the first cases, that the virus was too afraid to enter the Strip and that the blockaded enclave may be the “safest place in the world.”

But weeks later, the jokes have turned to real fear.

The streets of Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, are eerily quiet. Save for trying to buy food, whole families are staying home.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Gaza’s healthcare system would not be able to deal with an outbreak of the deadly disease in the coastal enclave home to nearly 2 million people.

Hamas violently took power of the 41-kilometer coastal enclave in 2007, and a blockade imposed by Israel has sharply reduced the supplies of fuel, electricity and medical supplies, making it doubtful that Gaza’s medical infrastructure would be able to contend with such a crisis.

The Strip’s weak healthcare infrastructure, with less than 3,000 beds in total, is unable to cope with the responsibility for caring for the sick. Israel has also for years restricted the import of certain ‘dual use’ items which are needed by hospitals but could also be used for military purposes, including equipment needed to maintain water and sanitation.

In addition to the lack of beds, not to mention ventilators, less than half of the required medical drugs needed for the population were available in Gaza at the beginning of 2020.

On Sunday, WHO stated that the organization supports the establishment of a field hospital at the Rafah crossing with 38 beds, six intensive care unit beds and 30 for patients in moderate condition. Another 50 rooms will be established as a quarantine area for travelers. The Gaza European Hospital will also be designated to absorb and treat additional cases, should the field hospital reach full capacity.

But that’s likely not even close to enough, should Gaza experience a full-blown outbreak of corona.

Eitan Dangot, the former commander of Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), says Hamas must put terrorism aside and focus on protecting and caring for their population.

“It’s time that Hamas takes a look inwards and supports their own population,” he said, adding that if “Hamas takes a few steps towards Israel, such as returning the bodies [of fallen soldiers], such steps can reduce the tensions and can build trust” between the two foes.

Once that step is taken by Hamas, another crossing could be opened with the Gaza Strip to allow for more humanitarian goods into the beleaguered coastal enclave.

According to Dangot, while there is an exchange of information and professional collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian health care workers from the West Bank, “we aren’t doing that in Gaza.”

And while only two people have so far been confirmed to have the virus, the speed of which the virus spreads “would be a significant problem in Gaza” Dangot said, warning that an outbreak of the virus “can also cause an internal explosion which can affect the security situation with Israel.”

A senior official in the Palestinian Ministry of Health told Israel Hayom on Sunday that there is major concern that if the virus spreads in Gaza and the already fragile healthcare system collapses, “thousands of Palestinians will try to reach the Israeli border.”

That scenario would be a nightmare for Israeli security forces who are ordered to prevent any Palestinian from infiltrating into Israeli territory. There is no way to spin footage of IDF troops firing towards Palestinians seeking medical care to help them in the worldwide fight against the novel coronavirus.

And if they get in, will they transmit the virus to troops who would be unable to screen every person for the virus? What then? Place all those troops in quarantine? How will the military continue to protect Israel’s borders if hundreds of troops are in self-isolation or sick with the virus?

Since the outbreak of the virus there has been a significant drop in attacks from the Strip, be it incendiary balloons or armed infiltration attempts.

If there are any positives to be found in this worldwide plague, it’s that two warring parties are both facing the same deadly invisible enemy. The fight against the coronavirus has strengthened the coordination between Israel and the PA in the West Bank and can be a reason to work towards a ceasefire arrangement with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

All sides need each other in this fight, even sworn enemies.