Thread by @NBCNews

While Israel outpaces the world with its successful vaccine rollout, health experts and Palestinian doctors told @NBCNews that relief for Palestinians has come far later, widening the inequality that began long before the pandemic. nbcnews.to/3p4cbLG

(1/7) #NBCNewsThreads

"It is very difficult here, not only because it's corona, but also because we have very limited resources. We are not like any other place in the world. So this makes the situation here harder," a doctor from a hospital in Gaza said. (2/7)

"What can we do? I need to support my children. A person has to put himself at risk so others can survive," a Palestinian man said from the Gaza Strip.

He has continued to work through the pandemic as much as he can when even a mask is beyond his budget. (3/7)

Last week, Israel sent 5,000 vaccine doses to Palestinians in the West Bank, along with 10,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine donated by Russia.

Though, some of the doses are bound for Gaza, with a population of 2M, they have yet to arrive. (4/7)

Israel's health minister said they have no legal obligation to vaccinate Palestinians because the Oslo Accords made them responsible for their own health care. But legal scholars say the Geneva Conventions oblige Israel, as an occupying power, to provide for Palestinians. (5/7)

Gaza's poverty, sky-high unemployment, isolation and population density have made social distancing and other preventive measures nearly impossible, a study found. Much of that is due to the nearly 14-year Israeli and Egyptian blockade that blocks imports of goods. (6/7)

Palestinian health workers are presented with a dilemma. While they encourage people to abide by lockdown orders, they are aware that the economy and the lack of a solid social safety net mean Gazans must gamble their lives for their livelihoods. (7/7)