Israelis Say Vaccine Palestinians Rejected Was ‘Completely Valid’

TEL AVIV - Israel's health ministry insisted Saturday that a shipment of COVID-19 vaccine doses the Palestinians rejected as about to expire were "completely valid."

The Palestinian Authority called off a deal Friday that would have seen Israel provide it with 1 million jabs in exchange for doses from Pfizer that the Palestinians are scheduled to receive later this year. PA spokesman Ibrahim Melhem said an initial delivery of 90,000 Pfizer doses failed to conform "to the specifications contained in the agreement, and accordingly Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh instructed the minister of health to cancel the agreement." "The government refuses to receive vaccines that are about to expire," Melhem said, in a statement carried by the official WAFA news agency.