Palestinians wait at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, in the southern Gaza Strip, Aug. 12, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Mohammed Salem.

i24 News – Gaza’s Health Ministry warned this week that the highly-contagious omicron Covid variant is spreading rapidly through the Palestinian enclave.

It could not say, however, how many confirmed cases there were.

A spokesperson for the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah of the West Bank said there were 291 new omicron cases in Gaza and the West Bank combined this week, up from 49 last week, Haaretz reported.

Most cases were in the West Bank, however.

Dr. Majdi Dahir, the health ministry official in charge of public health in Gaza, said several cases were recently diagnosed in the Strip, and they were not among travelers.

“Our fear is that we’re facing a rapid spread of the disease that will also be very violent and increase the number of patients needing urgent medical care,” he said, Haaretz reported.

“We don’t have the ability to deal with this.”

Dahir on Sunday called on the international community to pressure Israel into letting more medical equipment reach Gaza, including ventilators and oxygen.

As of Monday, 98 Covid cases were confirmed in the previous 24 hours in Gaza, raising the number of active cases to 1,237, with 44 severely ill.

Since the pandemic began, 1,725 people died of Covid in the Strip, according to Haaretz.

In the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority — the governing body of much of the area — has not imposed any Covid restrictions, prompting Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh on Monday to urge the government to encourage vaccination and prevent large gatherings.