Amid the ongoing fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the UAE has donated 40,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine to Gaza. The COVID-19 vaccine shipments reached the Palestinian enclave through the border with Egypt on Thursday. As per media reports, the shipment has been organized by Mohammed Dahlan, a long-time rival of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Noting that the first Palestinian elections are scheduled to take place in May, this crucial vaccine shipment will provide a significant boost to the campaign of Dahlan and his political group.

After fall out with Abbas around a decade ago, Mohammad Dahlan was dismissed from the Fatah party. Currently living in exile, Dahlan has taken credit for the largest shipment of COVID-19 vaccines to Gaza from the UAE. Ahead of the parliamentary elections, Dahlan announced plans to field his candidates “Fatah reformists” in the polls.

With this new shipment, the total number of Sputnik V vaccine doses Dahlan has procured for Gaza has increased to 60,000 since February. Notably, he has outpaced the efforts of the Palestinian authorities in securing necessary vaccines to protect the population against the disease.

Dahlan issued a statement in this regard, saying that the fresh shipment of vaccines is aimed at protecting the "courageous medical teams and people with priority, including the elderly and those suffering from certain (chronic) diseases."

He further added that half of these vaccines would be allocated to Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

So far, Gaza has recorded over 56,000 COVID-19 cases with 564 deaths. The Palestinian Authority is seeking to vaccinate 20 percent of Palestinians through the COVAX Facility launched by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, the Palestinian health minister on Wednesday announced that COVAX vaccine shipments, which were expected in March, had been postponed until May.

While leading the world with its vaccination rollout program, Israel has been calling for international support for Palestinians living in occupied territory to fight the pandemic. It has already begun vaccinating about 120,000 Palestinians with Israeli work permits.

At the same time, Farid Mahdawi, Palestinian Ambassador to China, has also told the media that about 50,000 doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine would be delivered to the West Bank in the coming days.