Israel’s vaccine rollout has been the envy of the world. As of Wednesday, 57.4 percent of Israelis have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 53.3 percent had received both. In a year of pandemic-induced stagnation—of the economy and of personal lives—the swift rollout has been nothing short of life-changing. The New York Times said the country offered a vision of the future. But only a few miles away, millions of people face a dramatically different reality. In Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinians, including those living under a blockade and occupation, will likely wait many months before securing their first doses—and both areas are now facing their worst COVID wave of the pandemic. This disparity has drawn intense social media criticism and Israeli pushback in recent months. But what’s really happening on the ground now? To understand more, I called Natalie Thurtle, an emergency physician and the medical coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) in the region, to explain what her team there sees in their daily work and why the situation has reached a crisis point.