JERUSALEM -- The Palestinian Authority called off an agreement whereby Israel would transfer 1 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to it in exchange for a similar number later this year, hours after the deal was announced Friday.
The Palestinians said the doses, which Israel began shipping to the occupied West Bank, are too close to expiring and do not meet their standards. Israel had said the vaccines "will expire soon," without specifying the date.
Palestinian officials had come under heavy criticism on social media after the agreement was announced, with many accusing them of accepting subpar vaccines and suggesting they might not be effective.
There was no immediate comment from Israel, which had largely shut down for the weekly Sabbath.
Israel, which has fully reopened after vaccinating some 85% of its adult population, has faced criticism for not sharing its vaccines with the 4.5 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
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The new Israeli government said it would transfer Pfizer vaccine doses that are close to expiring, and that the Palestinian Authority would reimburse it with a similar number of vaccines when it receives them from the pharmaceutical company in September or October. Up to 1.4 million doses could be exchanged, the Israeli government said.
"We will continue to find effective ways to cooperate for the benefit of people in the region," Foreign Minister Yair Lapid tweeted after the deal was announced.
The Israeli military body that coordinates civilian affairs in the occupied territories said it had coordinated the delivery of the first 100,000 doses to the West Bank on Friday.
The Palestinians portrayed the agreement differently, saying Pfizer had suggested the transfer as a way of speeding up its delivery of 4 million doses that the authority had already paid for in an agreement reached directly with the drug company.
"This is not an agreement with Israel, but with the Pfizer company," Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila said earlier Friday, before the deal was called off.
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At a news conference Friday evening, she said health officials who inspected the vaccines found they "did not meet standards and so we decided to return them."
Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh ordered the cancellation of the agreement and the return of the vaccines to Israel, his spokesman said. Ibrahim Milhim said the Palestinians would not accept "about-to-expire" vaccines, citing the official Israeli statement.
Vaccines from Pfizer, authorized in the U.S. in December, typically have a six-month shelf life. It wasn't immediately clear when the doses that Israel was to give the Palestinians were produced.
An Israeli security official said the batch that was transferred Friday are to expire in two weeks.
AIRSTRIKES ON GAZA
Meanwhile, Israel launched airstrikes on the Gaza Strip late Thursday for a second time since a shaky cease-fire ended last month's 11-day battle.
The strikes came after activists mobilized by Gaza's militant Hamas rulers launched incendiary balloons into Israel for a third-straight day.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from the strikes, which could be heard from Gaza City.
The military said fighter jets struck Hamas "military compounds and a rocket launch site" late Thursday in response to the balloons. It said its forces were preparing for a "variety of scenarios including a resumption of hostilities."
Rocket sirens went off in Israeli communities near Gaza shortly after the airstrikes. The military later said they were triggered by "incoming fire, not rockets."
Surveillance camera footage obtained by The Associated Press showed what appeared to be heavy machine-gun fire into the air from Gaza, a possible attempt by Palestinian militants to shoot down aircraft. Other footage showed projectiles being fired from Gaza, but it was unclear what kind or where they landed.
Tensions have remained high since the May 21 cease-fire, even as Egyptian mediators have met with Israeli and Hamas officials.
Information for this article was contributed by Fares Akram, Isaac Scharf, Areej Hazboun, Adel Hana and Khalil Hamra of The Associated Press.
