RAMALLAH, WEST BANK – SEPTEMBER 16: In this handout image supplied by the Palestinian Press Office (PPO), Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas makes a speech to confirm that the Palestinian Authority will request full membership at the United Nations when the General Assembly convenes next week, on September 16, 2011 in Ramallah, West Bank. President Abbas will formally submit the application for Palestinian statehood to the 66th United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 20th. The Palestinians and the Israelis are taking part in global diplomatic lobbying to win support for their differing positions on statehood. The Palestinian bid arises from two decades of on-and-off peace talks that have failed to produce a deal. The ultimate goal of the Palestinian Authority is to end Israeli occupation and to establish a sovereign and independent state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital. (Photo by Thaer Ganaim /PPO via Getty Images) The Palestinian Authority placed two major West Bank cities, Hebron and Nablus, on lockdown following a steep rise in COVID-19 cases.
The PA said Saturday that more than 100 Palestinians in the West Bank tested positive for the coronavirus in 24 hours, Ynet reported.
Over the next five days, the cities will under a strict curfew, PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said. Only grocery stores and pharmacies will be permitted to open, as well as factories which produce what is described as essential products. All social gatherings in the West Bank have been cancelled.
There have been a total of 1022 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the West Bank since the start of the pandemic, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. Some 41 cases were discovered in Hebron on Saturday alone.
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