Decision of the Prime Minister No. 2 of 2020 “Emergency”

Decision of the Prime Minister No. 2 of 2020

“Emergency”

The Prime Minister,

In reference of the provisions of the Amended Basic Law of 2003, as amended,

Based upon the powers vested in me in accordance with the provisions of the Presidential Decree No. 1 of 2020 Concerning the Declaration of the State of Emergency throughout the Palestinian Territory to Confront the Threat and Prevent the Outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19),

The powers bestowed upon me under the legislation in force,

In preservation of public health and safety, and

In pursuance of the public interest,

Hereby promulgates the following Decision:

Article 1

The governorate of Bethlehem shall be locked down. Entry and exit into and from it shall be banned.

Article 2

Movement and access within the cities of Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahur shall be banned as of 10:00 pm today, March 18, 2020, until further notice.

Article 3

All residents of the cities mentioned in Article 2 of this Decision must adhere to staying at, and not to leave, their homes, for the purposes of listing infected cases and avoid the spread of the disease.

Article 4

Medical, health and support staff shall be excluded from the procedures provided for under Articles 1, 2, and 3 of this Decision.

Article 5

Each person subject to home quarantine shall be prohibited from leaving his home or the place in which he is quarantined with a view to preventing putting the lives of people at risk. Each person who violates the provisions of this Article shall be deemed to have violated a provision of the Public Health Law No. 20 of 2004, as amended.

Article 6

The traffic and movement between governorates of the homeland shall be reduced by:

1. Each ministry and official department shall reduce the number of its employees from other governorates at its headquarters, in order to limit the movement between governorates, except in the cases excluded by the minister. Each ministry shall determine the appropriate mechanism to reduce the number of its employees.

2. The movement of transportation buses shall be banned between governorates in order to prevent interaction and reduce movement.

3. Citizens who reside in towns, villages and refugee camps shall be prohibited from moving and accessing the centres of major cities except for utmost necessity and in coordination with the emergency committees as they deem fit.

Article 7

Workers in settlements shall be prohibited from accessing their workplaces therein.

Article 8

Palestinian labourers who work inside the Green Line shall be given a respite until Sunday morning, March 22, 2020, to arrange their positions by staying at their workplaces. Thereafter, the entry and exist by any one of them shall be prohibited before one month elapses from that date.

Article 9

All the banks operating in the State of Palestine and financial institutions shall work towards reducing their working hours and the attendance of their employees throughout the governorates.

Article 10

Governors and Palestinian security forces shall be mandated to enforce their provisions of this Decision, each in the sphere of his jurisdiction, as per his location and place.

Article 11

All the competent authorities, each one within its sphere of jurisdiction, shall implement the provisions of this Decision, which shall enter into force as of the date of its promulgation and shall be published in the Official Gazette.

Promulgated in the city of Ramallah on March 18^th, 2020 Anno Domini,

Corresponding to Rajab 23^rd, 1441 Anno Hegira.

Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh

Prime Minister