KUALA LUMPUR: Israeli hostility in Palestine territory will further worsen the spread of COVID-19 among Palestinians.

Anadolu Agency Middle East editor based in al-Quds (Jerusalem) Turgut Alp Boyraz said, the fight against the pandemic in the occupied territories has been seriously hampered by the blockade imposed by the Israeli regime.

"The situation is very bad in Gaza, because of the blockade, they don't have the means to fight COVID-19. The situation is not any better in the West Bank, with the Palestinians there too having limited access to medical facilities and vaccination.

"Hospitals are almost full and the number keeps increasing," he said during the "Harnessing 24-Hour Global Journalism on Palestine Issue" virtual forum on Tuesday.

The forum was organised by Malaysia-Indonesia Journalists Friendship Alliance (Iswami) with the participation of media representatives from Malaysia, Indonesia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Nigeria and Turkey.

However, he said about 5,000 Palestinians in Jerusalem which is now dominated by Israelis have had access to vaccination.

According to news report, Israeli airstrike on Monday had partially destroyed Gaza's only COVID-19 laboratory, the Al-Rimal clinic. Hence, it' is no longer able to carry out tests on COVID-19 patients.

As of May 17, a total of 332,915 COVID-19 cases had been reported in Palestine with 3,705 deaths.

Meanwhile, Palestine News and Info Agency (WAFA) reported that a total of 273,438 people had been vaccinated in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip so far, including 195,675 people who received the second dose of the vaccine.

-- BERNAMA