Amnesty International has slammed the Israeli government for "flagrantly" violating its obligations as an occupying power by failing to provide COVID-19 vaccines to five million Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, calling it a sign of "institutionalized discrimination".

It said in its annual report that the coronavirus pandemic had exposed policies that have "perpetuated inequality, discrimination and oppression and paved the way for the devastation wrought by Covid-19 globally and within the Middle East and North Africa", including in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

"In a clear illustration of the extent of institutionalized discrimination in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Israeli authorities failed to provide vaccinations to five million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza when the vaccination drive began in December 2020," the report added.

"This move flagrantly violated Israel's obligations as an occupying power under international law."