On Aug. 23, health authorities announced that cases of the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant have been detected in the besieged enclave as the world enters a new stage of the pandemic. 

The Palestinian Health Ministry is providing vaccines to the Gaza Strip residents free of charge in more than 300 medical centers. However, inoculation numbers remain very low, with only 130,000 residents vaccinated among a population of 2 million, according to data from the Health Ministry.

Reports and rumors of negative side effects among elderly patients have raised concerns among residents that were already reluctant to be inoculated, slowing the vaccination drive among the most vulnerable.

Amid the increasing COVID-19 cases, the Interior Ministry in Gaza declared that vaccination against the virus is mandatory for all civil servants and workers in the service industry. Ministry spokesperson Iyad al-Bozm tweeted Aug. 24 that civil servants who refuse mandatory vaccines would face punitive measures and be placed on unpaid leave until the end of the epidemic. Certain private businesses could be forced to close if their employees are not vaccinated.