Political and physical divisions between Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have induced two very different responses to the coronavirus pandemic, with a strict lockdown in the first and crowds milling about freely in the second, Reuters reported.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has 250 recorded cases of Covid-19, a lockdown on public life was swiftly imposed — Bethlehem was sealed off after the first outbreak in March and a state of emergency declared.

But in the Gaza Strip, a densely populated coastal enclave, there have been few restrictions on movement and people packed into public markets and beaches, with few wearing masks against the risk of coronavirus contagion.

Read more here.