RAMALLAH, Wednesday, December 29, 2021 – President Mahmoud Abbas today declared a 30-day state of emergency in Palestine to continue efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state of emergency was first announced in March 2020 following the detection of the first coronavirus cases in the Palestinian territories. Since then, it has been continuously extended or reissued every 30 days.

According to the Palestinian Basic Law, a state of emergency may be extended only once. Any further extension requires issuing a new declaration.

This measure grants the government the authority to take necessary actions and implement any procedures it deems essential to curb the spread of the pandemic.