Israel will demand that the Palestinian Authority retract its accusation that closure imposed on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip was to blame for the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease if tests on blood taken from livestock reveal that the territories are free from the disease, Israel’s Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon said Sunday.
The blood samples are to be handed over Sunday for testing in an Israeli laboratory, Simhon was quoted by Haaretz as telling Israel Radio.
Palestinian Health Minister Hikmat Zeid announced Friday the discovery of 13 cases of foot-and-mouth disease in the West Bank, adding that three cases were found Thursday and that 10 more were discovered on Friday.
He said the affected animals were sheep, adding that the disease could be more widespread in the Palestinian territories, but that Palestinians have had difficulty studying the situation because of Israel's military closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israel will transfer 150,000 vaccinations against the disease to the PA at the Tulkarm checkpoint Sunday, said Haaretz newspaper.
With in the same context, Zeid and Simhon will hold a meeting during which the Israeli minister will offer the Palestinians veterinary assistance in combating the disease, said the paper.
The meeting, initiated by Zeid, will be the first between an Israeli minister and his Palestinian counterpart since the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada last September – Albawaba.com
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