Around 20,000 coronavirus vaccine doses from the United Arab Emirates arrived in Gaza Sunday, in a delivery reportedly orchestrated by Mohammed Dahlan, the chief political rival of Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
The Russian-made Sputnik V doses entered Gaza via the Rafah crossing with Egypt, AFP reported, meaning they did not pass through Israel.
Dahlan last week announced that the United Arab Emirates is sending 20,000 doses of the Russian coronavirus vaccine to the Gaza Strip, calling the shipment a “generous grant” from the UAE “at a sensitive time where the pandemic is targeting all our beloved.”
A former security chief in Gaza for Fatah, Dahlan was ousted from the party in 2011 and fled to Dubai. His home in Ramallah was later raided by PA security forces.
Abbas has accused Dahlan of, among other things, collaborating with Israel to eliminate a senior Hamas terrorist in 2002.
Dahlan was sentenced in absentia in 2016 to three years in prison for allegedly embezzling $16 million while serving as a cabinet minister.
He remains in the UAE, where he is advising the ruling family on Palestinian Arab affairs.
It has been speculated that Dahlan’s move to deliver vaccines to Gaza is part of an election campaign, as the PA elections are set to be held in May.
Dahlan has long been considered a legitimate threat to succeed Abbas as PA chairman. Due to this, Abbas has taken a series of steps to block Dahlan's possible return to a leadership position in Fatah. In one incident, Dahlan’s associates were not invited to the Fatah congress and Abbas’ associates were elected to senior positions.
More recently, the Fatah movement turned down a proposal by Dahlan to run on a joint list in the upcoming elections.