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Middle East countries heighten efforts to control coronavirus as more cases emerge

The virus has infected over 240,000 people globally. (File/AFP)
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Updated 21 March 2020
Arab News
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Middle East countries heighten efforts to control coronavirus as more cases emerge

  • Saudi Arabia has suspended domestic flights, trains, buses and taxis for two weeks in the Kingdom
Updated 21 March 2020
Arab News

DUBAI: Countries in the Middle East have been implementing new measures to fight the spread of COVID-19, which has already infected over 240,000 people globally and has killed nearly 10,000.

Friday, March 20 (All times in GMT)

20:15 - The United Arab Emirates health ministry announced on Friday its first two deaths from coronavirus, UAE official news agency WAM said.
The two deaths are for cases that suffered from previous health conditions, the agency said.

20:10 -  Israel reported its first fatality from the coronavirus on Friday, an 88-year-old man who also suffered from previous illnesses.
The Health Ministry said in a statement the man had been brought to the hospital about a week ago in serious condition.
Israel has so far reported 705 cases of coronavirus, the large majority with mild symptoms. About 10 patients are in serious condition and 15 have recovered completely.

20:03 - Egypt on Friday registered 29 new coronavirus cases, the health ministry said in a statement, bringing the total to 285.
The ministry said there was one new fatality, bringing the total number of deaths to eight.

19:38 -  The United Arab Emirates suspended entry of citizens of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states until the approval of a pre-examination mechanism, starting at midnight today, Emirates News Agency (WAM) said on Friday quoting the foreign ministry. 

18:45 -  French health authorities reported 78 new deaths from coronavirus, taking the total to 450 or an increase of 21 percent, the toll rising less sharply then the two days before as extra measures to enforce the national lockdown were locally announced. The number of cases had risen to 12,612, up from 10,995 on Thursday.

17:25 - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told cafes, pubs and restaurants across the country to close on Friday night and to stay shut indefinitely to help slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
"We are telling cafes, bars and restaurants to close tonight as soon as they reasonably can and not to open tomorrow," Johnson told reporters in Downing Street. "Though to be clear, they can continue to provide takeout services.
"Some people may of course be tempted to go out tonight, and I say to those people, 'please don't,'" Johnson said.
He said the government had to enforce the closure of cafes, pubs, restaurants as well as gyms and leisure centres to slow the spread of the virus.
"We're also telling nightclubs, theatres, cinemas, gyms and leisure centres to close on the same timescale," Johnson said. "The sad thing is today, for now, at least physically, we need to keep people apart."




Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak (L) and Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (R) attend a news conference addressing the government's response to the coronavirus outbreak. (File/AFP)

Britain's government will pay businesses hit by the coronavirus outbreak not to lay off workers, as part of what finance minister Rishi Sunak said would be an unprecedented economic intervention.
"Today I can announce that for the first time in our history the government is going to step in and pay people's wages," Sunak said at a news conference, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered the closure of pubs and eat-in restaurants.
Sunak said the government would give grants to cover 80% of a worker's salary if businesses kept them on staff.

19:05 - Saudi Arabia announces 70 new cases of coronavirus, 58 of which are related to attending social events.

16:15 -  Canada will no longer accept irregular migrants trying to cross the shared border with the United States and will instead return them to US authorities, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday.
The move marks a significant change in tactics from the Liberal government, which earlier this week had said those traversing the frontier would be put into quarantine.
"This is a temporary measure which we'll put in place for as long as the coronavirus crisis lasts. These are exceptional measures to protect citizens," Trudeau told a news conference.

16:00 - US President Donald Trump said on Friday he had put the Defense Production Act into action after saying earlier this week he would invoke the measure but essentially put it on hold until needed.
The measure is meant to allow the US government to speed production of masks, respirators, ventilators and other needed equipment to fight the coronavirus outbreak.
Trump said he put the measure into action on Thursday evening.

The United States and Mexico have agreed to restrict non-essential travel across their border beginning on Saturday because of the coronavirus outbreak, the US announced Friday.
US President Donald Trump said the move, similar to one already announced with northern neighbor Canada, was necessary to prevent the "spread the infection to our border agents, migrants, and to the public at large."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters at a White House briefing that trade between the United States and Mexico would continue.




US President Donald Trump addresses his administration's daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House in Washington, US, March 20, 2020. (Reuters)

15:46 - A further 39 people have died in England after testing positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths in the country to 167, the National Health Service said on Friday.
The patients who died were aged between 50 and 99 and had underlying health conditions.

14:30 - The number of journeys on London's underground train network has fallen by around 70% and on buses by roughly 40% as the authorities advised against all but essential travel due to the coronavirus outbreak.
"The financial impact of the reduction in our services and other business interruption caused by the response to COVID-19 virus is part of the collective national and global fight to control the spread of COVID-19," Transport for London (TfL) said.

14:00 - Tunisian President Kais Saied on Friday ordered a general lockdown, restricting public movement to counter the spread of the coronavirus.
Speaking in a televised broadcast, Saied said he was asking the majority of people to stay at home and stopping movement between Tunisian cities. 

13:50 - Saudi Arabia announced new emergency stimulus measures on Friday that took its support for the economy to more than $32 billion as it battles the impact of the coronavirus outbreak and lower oil prices.

The Saudi central bank said last week it had prepared a SR 50-billion ($13.32 billion) package to help banks and small and medium-sized enterprises cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus.

Under the package announced by Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan on Friday, SR 70 billion will be set aside to help businesses, with measures such as exemptions and postponements of some government fees and taxes.

Business owners will be allowed to postpone value-added tax (VAT), excise tax, and income tax payments for a period of three months, the minister said in a statement.

Expat fees, which the government charges for hiring expatriates and obtaining visas for their dependents, will also be cancelled for a three-month period.

13:45 - The United States said Friday it was suspending all routine visa services around the world due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
US embassies and consulates will still consider emergency visas if they have adequate staff, the State Department said.
"In response to significant worldwide challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of State is temporarily suspending routine visa services at all US embassies and consulates," a travel advisory said.

13:30 - Jordan will impose a countrywide lockdown from Saturday to combat the coronavirus, barring people from moving except for emergencies, the government said.
The measures will apply from 0700 local time (0500 GMT) on Saturday until further notice, said Amjad Al Adailah, government spokesman.
King Abdullah has enacted an emergency decree giving the government sweeping powers to enforce an army-imposed curfew and other measures that infringe on civil and political liberties.

11:43 – Saudi Arabia announced a 120 billion Saudi riyals worth of initiatives to implement urgent measures to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on the Kingdom’s economic activities, including the private sector.

11:40 – Vietnam’s health ministry said it will quarantine all foreign arrivals from March 21.

11:27 – Switzerland has confirmed the numebr of coronavirus cases in the country at 4,840.

11:16 – Georgia has completely suspended air traffic with other countries, a government spokesman said.

11:00 – Singapore has reported 40 new coronavirus cases, taking tally to 385, a health ministry official said.

10:51 – Up 10,000 people have now died worldwide from the coronavirus pandemic, French news agency AFP reported.

10:41 – Iran’s death toll from the new coronavirus outbreak rose by 149 to 1,433 on Friday, a health ministry official tweeted, adding that that total number of confirmed infections had increased by 1,237 to 19,644.

10:15 – Belgium has passed 2,000 coronavirus cases, an official said.

10:15 – The UAE has renewed entry procedures for Gulf Cooperation Council citizens starting Saturday March 21.

10:14 – Iran health ministry official said 1,433 have died so far from new coronavirus, and the number of infected cases has risen to 19,644.

10:11 – Austria said it was extending its coronavirus restrictions until April 13.

09:36 – Malaysia has recorded 130 new coronavirus cases, bringing total to 1,030.

09:35 – South Africa has confirmed new cases of covid-19 on Friday, bringing toll from 52 to 202.

09:24 – Cape Verde has confirmed its first case of coronavirus on Friday.

09:12 – German coronavirus fatalities increased by 11 to 31 overnight and the number of confirmed cases rose to 13,957, according to the Robert Koch Institute.

08:32 – The government of Hong Kong has confirned 48 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, a record day high for the country.

08:32 – Kuwait has recorded 11 new cases of coronavirus on Friday.

08:27 – The Philippines has recorded 13 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, raising total to 230. One additional death has been reported, bringing death toll to 18.




Workers wearing protective suits disinfect a street as a preventive measure against coronavirus in Manila, Philippines. (AFP)

07:57 – UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said if people do not follow the advice then the country may need to impose further tougher measures.

07:45 – French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the government will take additional measures to limit people’s movements if necessary.

07:15 – Qatar has removed exit visa requirements for an additional segment of its foreign labor force, including some of those working in the oil and gas industry, according to official tweets posted on Friday.

06:21 – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree on Friday postponing all events related to science, culture and art, as it seeks to contain a surge in coronavirus cases.

06:25 – Oman has raided street vendors in Muscat for violating health precautions on Friday.

04:32 – Thailand has reported 50 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, bringing the total to 322.

03:30 – Saudi Arabia has suspended domestic flights, trains, buses and taxis for two weeks in the Kingdom on Friday, as it heightens its efforts against the new coronavirus. 

Thursday, March 19 (All times in GMT)

20:36 – Egypt has reported one death and 46 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infected cases to 256 including 28 recovered patients and seven deaths.

Meanwhile, the government has suspended activities in cinemas and theaters as part of the country’s efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus in the country, local press reported on Thursday.

20:13 – Export of medicines, pharmaceutical and medical devices will be halted, the Saudi Customs announced on Friday in a circular sent to its land, sea and air customs ports as part of the Kingdom’s efforts to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19, state news agency SPA reported.

19:59 – The UAE’s National Corporation for Tourism & Hotels, NCTH, announced the exemption of tenants of retail shops and restaurants at its hotels from paying rents for three months, as part of the country’s efforts to fight against the new coronavirus COVID-19.

18:47 – Oman’s Ministry of Health has confirmed nine new coronavirus cases in the country, bringing the total number of infected cases to 48.

“Eight citizens and one expat have been infected with the virus,” the ministry said.

18:37 – The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has established a helpline for residents who are affected by the two-week suspension of re-entry to the country.

Holders of valid residence permits overseas and their family members and first-degree relatives in the UAE can call the helpline 0097124965228 for enquiries and assistance for humanitarian and emergency cases to ensure their safe return to the UAE, the ministry said in a report by state-run WAM.

17:57 – Kuwait’s health ministry reported three new recovered cases, bringing the total number of recoveries in the country to 18.

14:45 – The UAE has helped evacuate 80 people from Iran including 74 South Koreans and six Iranian family members on Thursday, a step the country has taken in response to a request by the South Korean government due to the coronavirus outbreak in the Islamic Republic

14:05 – Abu Dhabi’s tourism department has suspended sea cruises, desert camps, safaris and floating restaurants on Thursday evening, as a preventive measure against COVID-19.

10:23 – The International Air and Transport Association (IATA) has appealed to governments in the Middle East and Africa to support the aviation industry, as it takes major blows from the coronavirus outbreak

13:25 – Jordan imposes nationwide curfew starting noon March 21st.

Topics: Coronavirus

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Freedom is bittersweet for Palestinians released from Israeli jails

Updated 24 January 2025
AP
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Freedom is bittersweet for Palestinians released from Israeli jails

  • Since the start of the war the number of Palestinians in Israeli jails has doubled to more than 10,000
  • Many prisoners are never told why they were detained
Updated 24 January 2025
AP

RAMALLAH: When Dania Hanatsheh was released from an Israeli jail this week and dropped off by bus into a sea of jubilant Palestinians in Ramallah, it was an uncomfortable déjà vu.
After nearly five months of detention, it was the second time the 22-year-old woman had been freed as part of a deal between Israel and Hamas to pause the war in Gaza.
Hanatsheh’s elation at being free again is tinged with sadness about the devastation in Gaza, she said, as well as uncertainty about whether she could be detained in the future — a common feeling in her community.
“Palestinian families are prepared to be arrested at any moment,” said Hanatsheh, one of 90 women and teenagers released by Israel during the first phase of the ceasefire deal. “You feel helpless like you can’t do anything to protect yourself.”
Nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners are to be released as part of a deal to halt the fighting for six weeks, free 33 hostages from Gaza, and increase fuel and aid deliveries to the territory. Many of the prisoners to be released have been detained for infractions such as throwing stones or Molotov cocktails, while others are convicted of killing Israelis.
Hanatsheh was first arrested in November 2023, just weeks into the war triggered by Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel. She was freed days later during a weeklong ceasefire in which hundreds of Palestinians were released in exchange for nearly half of the roughly 250 hostages Hamas and others dragged into Gaza.
She was detained again in August, when Israeli troops burst through her door, using an explosive, she said.
On neither occasion was she told why she’d been arrested, she said. A list maintained by Israel’s justice ministry says Hanatsheh was detained for “supporting terror,” although she was never charged or given a trial and doesn’t belong to any militant group.
Her story resonates across Palestinian society, where nearly every family — in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem — has a relative who has spent time in an Israeli jail. This has left scars on generations of families, leaving fewer breadwinners and forcing children to grow up without one or both parents for long stretches.
Since the start of the war 15 months ago, the number of Palestinians in Israeli jails has doubled to more than 10,000, a figure that includes detainees from Gaza, and several thousand arrested in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, according to Hamoked, an Israeli legal group.
Many prisoners are never told why they were detained. Israel’s “administrative detention” policy allows it to jail people — as it did with Hanatsheh — based on secret evidence, without publicly charging them or ever holding a trial. Only intelligence officers or judges know the charges, said Amjad Abu Asab, head of the Detainees’ Parents Committee in Jerusalem.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Palestinian prisoners released by Israel cannot be later rearrested on the same charges, or returned to jail to finish serving time for past offenses. Prisoners are not required to sign any document upon their release.
The conditions for Palestinian prisoners deteriorated greatly after the war in Gaza began. The country’s then-national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, boasted last year that prisons will no longer be “summer camps” under his watch.
Several of the prisoners released this week said they lacked adequate food and medical care and that they were forced to sleep in cramped cells.
Men and women prisoners in Israel are routinely beaten and sprayed with pepper gas, and they are deprived of family visits or a change of clothes, said Khalida Jarrar, the most prominent detainee freed.
For years, Jarrar, 62, has been in and out of prison as a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a leftist faction with an armed wing that has carried out attacks on Israelis.
Human Rights Watch has decried Jarrar’s repeated arrests — she was last detained late in 2023 — as part of an unjust Israeli crackdown on non-violent political opposition.
At an event in Ramallah to welcome home the newly released prisoners, Jarrar greeted a long line of well- wishers. But not everyone was celebrating. Some families worried the ceasefire wouldn’t last long enough for their relatives to be freed.
During the ceasefire’s first phase, Israel and Hamas and mediators from Qatar, the US and Egypt will try to agree upon a second phase, in which all remaining hostages in Gaza would be released in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a “sustainable calm.” Negotiations on the second phase begin on the sixteenth day of the ceasefire.
For Yassar Saadat, the first release of prisoners was a particularly bittersweet moment. His mother, Abla Abdelrasoul, was freed after being under “administrative detention” since September, according to the justice ministry, which said her crime was “security to the state — other.” But his father — one of the most high-profile prisoners in Israel — remains behind bars.
“We don’t know if he’ll be released, but we don’t lose hope,” he said. His father, Ahmad Saadat, is a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who was convicted of killing an Israeli Cabinet minister in 2001 and has been serving a 30-year sentence.
It’s unclear if he’ll be released and, even if he is, whether he’ll be able to see his family. The ceasefire agreement says all Palestinian prisoners convicted of deadly attacks who are released will be exiled, either to Gaza or abroad, and barred from ever returning to Israel or the West Bank.
The release of some convicted murderers is a sore spot for many Israelis, and particularly those whose relatives were killed.
Micah Avni’s father, Richard Lakin, was shot and stabbed to death by a member of Hamas on a public bus in 2015 and his killer’s name is on the list of prisoners to be freed in phase one. While Avni is grateful that more hostages in Gaza are beginning to come home, he doesn’t believe it’ll lead to long-term peace between Israel and Hamas.
“These deals come with a huge, huge cost of life and there are going to be many, many, many more people murdered in the future by the people who were released,” he said.
Israel has a history of agreeing to lopsided exchanges. In 2011, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to release more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a single Israeli soldier, Gilad Schalit, taken hostage by Hamas.
One of the prisoners released during that deal was Hamas’ former top leader, Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack who was killed by Israeli troops in Gaza last year.
Some Palestinians said the lopsided exchanges of prisoners for hostages is justified by Israel’s seemingly arbitrary detention policies. Others said, for now, all they want to focus on is lost time with their families.
Amal Shujaeiah said she spent more than seven months in prison, accused by Israel of partaking in pro-Palestinian events at her university and hosting a podcast that talked about the war in Gaza.
Back home, the 21-year-old beamed as she embraced friends and relatives.
“Today I am among my family and loved ones, indescribable joy ... a moment of freedom that makes you forget the sorrow.”

Topics: Israel Palestine West Bank Hamas War on Gaza

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Syria’s economic pains far from over despite Assad’s ouster

Updated 24 January 2025
AP
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Syria’s economic pains far from over despite Assad’s ouster

  • Wealthy Gulf countries have pledged to build economic partnerships with Syria’s new interim rulers
  • The United Nations in 2017 estimated that it would cost at least $250 billion to rebuild Syria, now number could reach at least $400 billion
Updated 24 January 2025
AP

DAMASCUS: Samir Al-Baghdad grabbed his pickax and walked up a wobbly set of stairs made of cinderblocks and rubble.
He is rebuilding his destroyed family house in the Qaboun neighborhood near Damascus, Syria ‘s capital.
The traditional building, which once housed his family, parents and some relatives, had a courtyard decorated with plants and tiled floors where guests were received. But the house, like scores of others nearby, has been reduced to heaps of rubble during years of civil war.
Al-Baghdadi can’t afford to hire workers or rent a bulldozer to clear the debris and fix the house. He makes just about enough money as a mechanic to feed his family. But he’s desperate to rebuild it because he is struggling to pay skyrocketing rent for an apartment.
“Economic opportunities are basically nonexistent,” Al-Baghdadi said, sitting on a pile of rubble and debris where the house’s entrance used to be. “So we’re going to slowly rebuild with our own hands.”
Although Syrian President Bashar Assad was toppled last month in a lightning insurgency, the country’s dire economic conditions that protesters decried have not changed.
The economy has been battered by corruption and 13 years of civil war. Coupled with international sanctions and mismanagement, inflation skyrocketed, pulling some 90 percent of the country into poverty. Over half the population — some 12 million people — don’t know where their next meal will come from, according to the UN World Food Program.
With no sign of a full-scale withdrawal of international sanctions and continuing caution among potential overseas investors, the honeymoon period for the country’s new rulers could be short-lived.
Qaboun, just a stone’s throw away from the city center, and other eastern Damascus neighborhoods became rebel strongholds in 2012, when the country’s mass protests against Assad spiraled into all-out war.
It suffered government airstrikes and artillery fire, and at one point Daesh group extremists. In 2017, government forces reclaimed the neighborhood, but when Al-Baghdadi tried to return in 2020, security forces kicked him out and forced him to sign a pledge to never return, saying it was a security zone that was off limits.
After Assad’s fall, Al-Baghdadi was finally able to return. Like many, he was euphoric and hoped it would pave the way for better times despite the many challenges that lay ahead, including rampant power cuts and fuel shortages.
For years, Syrian families have relied on humanitarian aid and remittances from family members living abroad to survive. On top of the gargantuan costs of rebuilding the country’s destroyed electricity, water and road infrastructure, money is needed to restore its battered agriculture and industrial sectors to make its hobbled economy productive again.
The United Nations in 2017 estimated that it would cost at least $250 billion to rebuild Syria. Some experts now say that number could reach at least $400 billion.
Wealthy Gulf countries have pledged to build economic partnerships with Syria’s new interim rulers, while Washington has eased some restrictions without fully lifting its sanctions. The US Treasury Department issued a six-month license authorizing some transactions with Syria’s interim government. While it includes some energy sales, Syrians say it isn’t enough.
Sinan Hatahet, an economic researcher at the Washington-based Atlantic Council think tank, said the US actions were the “bare minimum” needed to show good faith to Damascus and aren’t enough to help Syria jumpstart its economy.
“It doesn’t help the private sector to engage,” Hatahet said. “The restrictions on trade, the restrictions on reconstruction, on rebuilding the infrastructure are still there.”
While countries are hesitant to make more impactful decisions as they hope for a peaceful political transition, many Syrians say the economy can’t wait.
“Without jobs, without huge flows of money and investments … these families have no way of making ends meet,” Hatahet said.
The executive director of the World Food Program echoed similar sentiments, warning Syria’s neighbors that its food and economic crisis is also a crisis of security.
“Hunger does not breed good will,” Cindy McCain said in an interview during her first visit to Damascus.
In the Syrian capital’s bustling old marketplace, crowds of people pack the narrow passageways as the country’s new de facto flag is draped over the crowded stalls. Merchants say the atmosphere is pleasant and celebratory, but nobody is buying anything.
People stop to smell the aromatic and colorful spices or pose for photos next to masked fighters from the ruling Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham group guarding the market’s entrances.
“We’re very happy with our liberation, thank God, but there are few jobs,” said Walid Naoura, who works with his father at a clothing shop. “Yes, we’ve been relieved of thuggery and oppression, but all these people here have come to celebrate but not to buy anything because things are expensive.”
Nearby, Abou Samir, a carpenter, saws a piece of wood as he assembles a chest of drawers. There is no electricity to power his machinery, so he’s doing it by hand.
“I’m working at a loss … and you can’t make larger workshops work because there is no electricity,” he said.
His sons live abroad and send money to help him get by, but he refuses to stop his carpentry work which has been his livelihood for 50 years.
In Qaboun, Al-Baghdadi sips tea on a makeshift porch overlooking his neighborhood, which has turned into empty plots and a gathering point for local buses and minivans. It was a successful day because he managed to connect an electric cable to power a single light bulb — but part of his roof collapsed.
He still hasn’t been able to secure running water but hopes that he and his family can move into the house with its many memories before summer, even if it is far from completion because of his financial situation.
“I prefer that to living in a palace elsewhere,” Al-Baghdadi said.

Topics: Fall of Assad Syria

US air force looks to upgrade Cyprus air base as humanitarian staging post for the Middle East

Updated 24 January 2025
AP
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US air force looks to upgrade Cyprus air base as humanitarian staging post for the Middle East

  • Cyprus, which is only 184 km from the Lebanese capital, has served as a transit point for the repatriation of foreign nationals fleeing conflict in the Mideast
  • The Cyprus government agreed to the air base upgrade assessment following the recent deployment of a US Marine contingent at the base
Updated 24 January 2025
AP

NICOSIA, Cyprus: Experts from the US Air Force are looking at ways to upgrade Cyprus’ premier air base for use as a humanitarian staging post in future operations in the Middle East, a Cypriot official told The Associated Press Thursday.
Cyprus, which is only 184 kilometers (114 miles) from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has acted as a transit point for the repatriation of foreign nationals fleeing conflict in the Middle East and beyond on numerous occasions in the past. It has also served as a transit point for humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Experts from the 435th Contingency Response Group based out of Ramstein, Germany, will spend the next few days at Andreas Papandreou Air Force Base to assess the upgrade needed to accommodate a wide array of US air assets and other forces.
A key priority is to ensure air traffic safety in and around the base, which abuts the island’s second-largest civilian airport, the official said. The base’s location makes it easy to transfer evacuees onto civilian aircraft at the adjacent airport for their trip home.
The official spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to speak publicly about the details of the experts’ visit.
Air traffic safety would need to be enhanced through new high-tech installations, including state-of-the-art radar, to ensure the independent operation of civilian and military aircraft at safe distances.
“The Americans are very specific on safety issues and want to make some upgrades to further improve the base’s safety,” the official said.
Other essential upgrades include expanding both the base itself and the runway to accommodate more transport and fighter aircraft. Hardened shelters to protect those air assets are also envisioned.
The Cyprus government agreed to the air base upgrade assessment following the recent deployment of a US Marine contingent at the base. The Marines, who were equipped with V-22 Osprey tiltrotor military transport and cargo aircraft, were on stand-by in the event of a swift evacuation of US citizens from nearby Lebanon during Israel’s strikes against Hezbollah targets late last year.
Deputy government spokesman Yannis Antoniou told the state broadcaster Thursday that any use of the base by the forces of the US or other nations would require prior Cyprus government approval. He insisted the air base would not act as a forward base for military strike operations against targets in the region.
“We’ve shown interest in working with (US Forces) because we consider this to serve the vital interests of the Cyprus Republic,” Antoniou said, adding that in their report, the USAF experts will offer an estimate of the upgrade costs and which percentage of those the US government would be willing to cover.
Bilateral relations between European Union member Cyprus and the US, especially in terms of military cooperation, have grown significantly over the last few years following a pledge by Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides to affirm the ethnically divided country’s “clear Western orientation.”
A manifestation of those ties was last week’s directive by former President Joe Biden that allows Cyprus to buy arms from the US government and get surplus American military equipment.
The Cypriot government noted the development as a tangible acknowledgment of Cyprus’ reliability as a US partner in the region.

Topics: Cyprus US Air Force

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US Secretary of State Rubio backs ‘inclusive’ transition in Syria in call with Turkiye

Updated 24 January 2025
AFP
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US Secretary of State Rubio backs ‘inclusive’ transition in Syria in call with Turkiye

  • Rubio’s comments signal a consistency with his predecessor Antony Blinken, who used similar language as he called on Syria’s new leaders to protect minority rights and not pose a threat to neighboring countries
Updated 24 January 2025
AFP

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for an inclusive transition in Syria after the fall of leader Bashar Assad, in a call with powerbroker Turkiye, the State Department said Thursday.
Rubio’s comments signal a consistency with his predecessor Antony Blinken, who on a trip to the region last month used similar language as he called on Syria’s new leaders to protect minority rights and not pose a threat to neighboring countries.
In a call with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan that took place Wednesday, Rubio “highlighted the need for an inclusive transition in Syria,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.
Rubio also called for “ensuring that the new government prevents Syria from becoming a source for international terrorism, and denying foreign malign actors the opportunity to exploit Syria’s transition for their own objectives,” she said.
Assad, allied with Iran and Russia, had ruthlessly crushed an uprising that erupted in 2011 but was swiftly deposed last month in a lightning raid by Turkish-backed rebels formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
Turkish-backed fighters have been battling Kurdish forces in Syria, who allied with the United States in the battle against the Daesh (IS) extremist group but who Ankara associates with Kurdish militants at home.
 

Topics: Fall of Assad Marco Rubio Hakan Fidan

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‘Living in a cage’: West Bank checkpoints proliferate after Gaza truce

Updated 24 January 2025
AFP
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‘Living in a cage’: West Bank checkpoints proliferate after Gaza truce

  • According to the Palestinian Wall Resistance Commission, 146 iron gates were erected around the West Bank after the Gaza war began
Updated 24 January 2025
AFP

TAYBEH, Palestinian Territories: Father Bashar Basiel moved freely in and out of his parish in the occupied West Bank until Israeli troops installed gates at the entrance of his village Taybeh overnight, just hours after a ceasefire began in Gaza.
“We woke up and we were surprised to see that we have the iron gates in our entrance of Taybeh, on the roads that are going to Jericho, to Jerusalem, to Nablus,” said Basiel, a Catholic priest in the Christian village north of Ramallah.
All over the West Bank, commuters have been finding that their journey to work takes much longer since the Gaza ceasefire started.
“We have not lived such a difficult situation (in terms of movement) since the Second Intifada,” Basiel told AFP in reference to a Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s.
He said he was used to the checkpoints, which are dotted along the separation barrier that cuts through much of the West Bank and at the entrances to Palestinian towns and cities.
But while waiting times got longer in the aftermath of the October 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the Gaza war, now it has become almost impossible to move between cities and villages in the West Bank.
Left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israeli authorities ordered the military to operate dozens of checkpoints around the West Bank during the first 42 days of the ceasefire.
According to the Palestinian Wall Resistance Commission, 146 iron gates were erected around the West Bank after the Gaza war began, 17 of them in January alone, bringing the total number of roadblocks in the Palestinian territory to 898.
“Checkpoints are still checkpoints, but the difference now is that they’ve enclosed us with gates. That’s the big change,” said Anas Ahmad, who found himself stuck in traffic for hours on his way home after a usually open road near the university town of Birzeit was closed.
Hundreds of drivers were left idling on the road out of the city as they waited for the Israeli soldiers to allow them through.
The orange metal gates Ahmad was referring to are a lighter version of full checkpoints, which usually feature a gate and concrete shelters for soldiers checking drivers’ IDs or searching their vehicles.
“The moment the truce was signed, everything changed 180 degrees. The Israeli government is making the Palestinian people pay the price,” said Ahmad, a policeman who works in Ramallah.
Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani did not comment on whether there had been an increase in the number of checkpoints but said the military used them to arrest wanted Palestinian militants.
“We make sure that the terrorists do not get away but the civilians have a chance to get out or go wherever they want and have their freedom of movement,” he said in a media briefing on Wednesday.
Basiel said that now, when the gates are closed, “I have to wait, or I have to take another way” into Taybeh, a quiet village known for its brewery.
He said that on Monday people waited in their cars from 4:00 p.m. to 2:00 am while each vehicle entering the village was meticulously checked.
Another Ramallah area resident, who preferred not to be named for security reasons, compared his new environment to that of a caged animal.
“It’s like rabbits living in a cage. In the morning they can go out, do things, then in the evening they have to go home to the cage,” he said.
Shadi Zahod, a government employee who commutes daily between Salfit and Ramallah, felt similarly constrained.
“It’s as if they’re sending us a message: stay trapped in your town, don’t go anywhere,” he told AFP.
“Since the truce, we’ve been paying the price in every Palestinian city,” he said, as his wait at a checkpoint in Birzeit dragged into a third hour.
Before approving the Gaza ceasefire, Israel’s security cabinet reportedly added to its war goals the “strengthening of security” in the West Bank.
Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said in a statement on Tuesday that Israel “is merely shifting its focus from Gaza to other areas it controls in the West Bank.”
A 2019 academic paper by Jerusalem’s Applied Research Institute estimated that at the time Palestinians lost 60 million work hours per year to restrictions.
But for Basiel, the worst impact is an inability to plan even a day ahead.
“The worst thing that we are facing now, is that we don’t have any vision for the near future, even tomorrow.”

Topics: West Bank Palestine Israel

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