Violence mounts against Iraqi doctors as COVID-19 cases spike

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Relatives of a patient, who died from COVID-19, beat up Tarik Sheibani, 47, an Iraqi doctor and director of Al-Amal Hospital, in this still image taken from CCTV footage obtained by Reuters, in Najaf, Iraq August 27, 2020. (Reuters)
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Updated 23 September 2020
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Violence mounts against Iraqi doctors as COVID-19 cases spike

  • “All the doctors are scared,” said Sheibani, speaking at his home in Kufa a few weeks after the Aug. 28 attack
  • More than 8,000 people have died, a number that some doctors fear will rise sharply

NAJAF: Iraqi doctor Tariq Al-Sheibani remembers little else beyond cowering on the ground as a dozen relatives of a patient, who had just died of COVID-19, beat him unconscious.
About two hours later the 47-year-old director of Al-Amal Hospital in the southern city of Najaf woke up in a different clinic with bruises all over his body.
“All the doctors are scared,” said Sheibani, speaking at his home in Kufa a few weeks after the Aug. 28 attack. “Every time a patient dies, we all hold our breath.”
He is one of many doctors struggling to do their job as COVID-19 cases rise sharply in Iraq.
They are working within a health service that has been left to decay through years of civil conflict and underfunding, and now face the added threat of physical attack by grieving and desperate families.
Reuters spoke to seven doctors, including the head of Iraq’s Medical Association, who described a growing pattern of assaults on medical staff. Dozens have taken place since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has warned that the pandemic could spiral out of control in Iraq.




Tarik Sheibani, 47, an Iraqi doctor and director of Al-Amal Hospital, wears a protective suit at a hospital where he treats coronavirus disease patients, in Najaf, Iraq September 13, 2020. (Reuters)


Authorities have lifted many lockdown measures, allowing restaurants and places of worship to reopen, but they have shut borders to pilgrims ahead of a large Shiite Muslim pilgrimage that normally draws millions to the south of the country.
Iraq has recorded several thousand new coronavirus infections every day, and the total now exceeds 300,000.
More than 8,000 people have died, a number that some doctors fear will rise sharply, putting frontline health care workers under huge pressure and in some cases in physical danger.
The health ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the COVID situation in Iraq and medics’ complaints about the threat of violence.
Sheibani, whose beating went viral when CCTV footage circulated online, said the family of the deceased patient blamed his staff for the death. He said he did not know how the video reached the public domain.
The patient had arrived at hospital in critical condition.
“I hate myself and I hate the day I became a doctor in Iraq,” Sheibani told Reuters. “They brought the patient in his final stages and he died, and they want the health system to bear the responsibility.”
Enforcing health safety guidelines within the hospital is not always easy, especially when tensions between families of sick patients and hospital staff are running high.
During a recent visit to Sheibani’s hospital, which is a coronavirus isolation center, Reuters reporters saw relatives of COVID-19 patients coming in and out of the ward without wearing full protective gear as they are supposed to.
Some were only wearing surgical face masks.
Iraq is fighting the pandemic with a depleted force of doctors and nurses.
In 2018, it had just 2.1 nurses and midwives per thousand people, compared with Jordan’s 3.2 and Lebanon’s 3.7, according to official estimates. It had 0.83 doctors per thousand people, while neighboring Jordan, for example, had 2.3.
There are also significant shortages of drugs, oxygen, and vital medical equipment, the result of years of underspending.
Many young doctors say they are overworked, putting in 12-16 hour shifts every day meaning they are more likely to make mistakes in prescriptions and treatment. Some take kickbacks for handing over certain drugs, physicians told Reuters.
The Health Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Government vows action
Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has condemned the attacks against medical staff and promised to hold perpetrators to account.
The attacks have increased in recent months, said Medical Association president Abdul Ameer Hussein. He said his association could not keep track of all of them, but they include verbal and physical abuse and even stabbings.
Sheibani filed a complaint with police, but he said he had received threats from the people who beat him up to drop the case.




Tarik Sheibani, 47, an Iraqi doctor and director of Al-Amal Hospital, wears a protective suit as he walks at a quarantine ward at Al-Amal Hospital in Najaf, Iraq September 13, 2020. (Reuters)


“They might attack me or my family,” Sheibani said, adding that he no longer left his house alone.
Doctors say the government has not taken tough enough action to protect them from violence, which they have faced for years even before the pandemic.
The health ministry said in a statement on Saturday that it would assign its legal division to file lawsuits against those who attacked health workers, as well as those medics who fell short in treating patients.
According to the Medical Association, at least 320 doctors have been killed since 2003, when US-led forces toppled President Saddam Hussein, ushering in years of sectarian violence and extremist insurgencies.
Thousands more have been kidnapped or threatened.
Doctors and human rights activists say the state is so weak that it cannot bring doctor’s assailants to justice, especially if they come from a powerful tribe or belong to a militia.
“The government can’t protect doctors from tribes. Doctors end up dropping the cases because they receive threats,” said Hussein, adding that he often asks tribal leaders to mediate when a doctor is being threatened.
Doctors have gone on strike and protested in recent months over what they say is government inaction over the attacks.
Abbas Alaulddin, 27, a doctor in Baghdad who was assaulted last week by the family of a patient who died of COVID-19, said he was considering seeking asylum.
“The situation here is unbearable.”


Israel minister warns of more Lebanon strikes if Hezbollah not disarmed

Updated 48 min 27 sec ago
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Israel minister warns of more Lebanon strikes if Hezbollah not disarmed

  • ‘There will be no calm in Beirut, and no order or stability in Lebanon, without security for the State of Israel’
  • Iran meanwhile condemns Israeli ‘aggression’ against

JERUSALEM: Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Friday that Israel will keep striking Lebanon until it disarms Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah, a day after Israeli air strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs.

“There will be no calm in Beirut, and no order or stability in Lebanon, without security for the State of Israel. Agreements must be honored and if you do not do what is required, we will continue to act, and with great force,” Katz said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Iran has condemned the Israeli “aggression” against Lebanon on Friday.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei described the Thursday evening strikes “as a blatant act of aggression against Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.”


WHO urges ‘urgent protection’ of key Gaza hospitals

Updated 06 June 2025
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WHO urges ‘urgent protection’ of key Gaza hospitals

  • The WHO said both hospitals are already operating “above their capacity,” with patients suffering life-threatening injuries arriving amid a “dire shortage of essential medicines and medical supplies”

GENEVA: The World Health Organization on Thursday called for the “urgent protection” of two of the last hospitals remaining in the Gaza Strip, warning that the territory’s health system is “collapsing.”
The WHO said the Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Amal Hospital risk becoming “non-functional” because of restrictions on aid and access routes, further damaging a health system already battered by months of war.
“There are already no hospitals functioning in the north of Gaza. Nasser and Amal are the last two functioning public hospitals in Khan Younis, where currently most of the population is living,” the UN agency said in a statement on X.
“Without them, people will lose access to critical health services,” it said.
The WHO added that closure of the two hospitals would eliminate 490 beds and reduce Gaza’s hospital capacity to less than 1,400 beds — 40 percent below pre-war levels — for a population of two million people.
The WHO said the hospitals have not been told to evacuate but lie within or just outside an Israeli-declared evacuation zone announced on June 2.
Israeli authorities have told Gaza’s health ministry that access routes to the two hospitals will be blocked, the WHO said.
As a result, it will be “difficult, if not impossible” for medical staff and new patients to reach them, it said.
“If the situation further deteriorates, both hospitals are at high risk of becoming non-functional, due to movement restrictions, insecurity, and the inability of WHO and partners to resupply or transfer patients,” the organization said.
The WHO said both hospitals are already operating “above their capacity,” with patients suffering life-threatening injuries arriving amid a “dire shortage of essential medicines and medical supplies.”
It warned the closure of Nasser and Al-Amal would have dire consequences for patients in need of surgical care, intensive care, blood bank and transfusion services, cancer care and dialysis.
After nearly 20 months of war triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Gaza is mired in one of the world’s gravest humanitarian crises, with civilians enduring relentless bombardment, mass displacement and severe hunger.
 

 


Gaza aid logistics company funded by Chicago private equity firm 

Palestinian boys carry pots as the queue at a hot meal distribution point in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, June 4, 2025.
Updated 06 June 2025
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Gaza aid logistics company funded by Chicago private equity firm 

  • Israel blocked almost all aid into Gaza for 11 weeks until May 19, and has since only allowed limited deliveries in, mostly managed by the new GHF operation
  • SRS is run by a former CIA official named Phil Reilly, but its ownership has not previously been disclosed

WASHINGTON: A Chicago-based private equity firm - controlled by a member of the family that founded American publishing company Rand McNally - has an "economic interest" in the logistics company involved in a controversial new aid distribution operation in Gaza.
McNally Capital, founded in 2008 by Ward McNally, helped "support the establishment" of Safe Reach Solutions, a McNally Capital spokesperson told Reuters. SRS is a for-profit company established in Wyoming in November, state incorporation records show. It is in the spotlight for its involvement with the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which last week started distributing aid in the war-torn Palestinian enclave. The foundation paused work on Wednesday after a series of deadly shootings close to its operations and has suffered from the departure of senior personnel.

HIGHLIGHTS

• McNally Capital has economic interest in Safe Reach Solutions

• GHF aid distribution halted after deadly shootings near operations

• U.N. and aid groups refuse to work with GHF, citing lack of neutrality

"McNally Capital has provided administrative advice to SRS and worked in collaboration with multiple parties to enable SRS to carry out its mission," the spokesperson said. "While McNally Capital has an economic interest in SRS, the firm does not actively manage SRS or have a day-to-day operating role."
SRS is run by a former CIA official named Phil Reilly, but its ownership has not previously been disclosed. Reuters has not been able to establish who funds the newly created foundation.
The spokesperson did not provide details of the scale of the investment in SRS by McNally Capital, which says it has $380 million under management.
McNally Capital founder Ward McNally is the great great great grandson of the co-founder of Rand McNally. The McNally family sold the publishing company in 1997.
A spokesperson for SRS confirmed it worked with the foundation, also known as GHF, but did not answer specific questions about ownership.
GHF, which resumed aid distribution on Thursday, did not respond to a request for comment
While Israel and the United States have both said they don't finance the operation, they have pushed the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it, arguing that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.
Israel blocked almost all aid into Gaza for 11 weeks until May 19, and has since only allowed limited deliveries in, mostly managed by the new GHF operation. This week GHF pressed Israel to boost civilian safety beyond the perimeter of its distribution sites after Gazan health officials said at least 27 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded by Israeli fire near one of the food distribution sites on Tuesday, the third consecutive day of chaos and bloodshed to blight the aid operation.
The Israeli military said its forces on Tuesday had opened fire on a group of people they viewed as a threat after they left a designated access route near the distribution center in Rafah. It said it was investigating what had happened.
The U.N and most other aid groups have refused to work with GHF because they say it is not neutral and that the distribution model militarizes aid and forces displacement.
The SRS spokesperson said in a statement that under Reilly's leadership, "SRS brings together a multidisciplinary team of experts in security, supply chain management, and humanitarian affairs."
McNally Capital has investments in defense contracting companies. Among the firms it acquired was Orbis Operations, a firm that specializes in hiring former CIA officers. Orbis did not return calls for comment. Reilly used to work for Orbis.

 


Without meat, families in Gaza struggle to celebrate Islam’s Eid Al-Adha holiday

Updated 06 June 2025
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Without meat, families in Gaza struggle to celebrate Islam’s Eid Al-Adha holiday

  • The UN says 96 percent of the livestock and 99 percent of the poultry are dead

MUWASI, Gaza Strip: With the Gaza Strip devastated by war and siege, Palestinians struggled Thursday to celebrate one of the most important Islamic holidays.
To mark Eid Al-Adha – Arabic for the Festival of Sacrifice — Muslims traditionally slaughter a sheep or cow and give away part of the meat to the poor as an act of charity. Then they have a big family meal with sweets. Children get gifts of new clothes.
But no fresh meat has entered Gaza for three months. Israel has blocked shipments of food and other aid to pressure Hamas to release hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that started the war. And nearly all the territory’s homegrown sheep, cattle and goats are dead after 20 months of Israeli bombardment and ground offensives.
Some of the little livestock left was on sale at a makeshift pen set up in the vast tent camp of Muwasi in the southern part of Gaza’s Mediterranean coast.
But no one could afford to buy. A few people came to look at the sheep and goats, along with a cow and a camel. Some kids laughed watching the animals and called out the prayers connected to the holiday.
“I can’t even buy bread. No meat, no vegetables,” said Abdel Rahman Madi. “The prices are astronomical.”
The Eid commemorates the test of faith of the Prophet Ibrahim – Abraham in the Bible – and his willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of submission to God. The day is usually one of joy for children – and a day when businesses boom a bit as people buy up food and gifts.
But prices for everything have soared amid the blockade, which was only slightly eased two weeks ago. Meat and most fresh fruits and vegetables disappeared from the markets weeks ago.
At a street market in the nearby city of Khan Younis, some stalls had stuffed sheep toys and other holiday knickknacks and old clothes. But most people left without buying any gifts after seeing the prices.
“Before, there was an Eid atmosphere, the children were happy … Now with the blockade, there’s no flour, no clothes, no joy,” said Hala Abu Nqeira, a woman looking through the market. “We just go to find flour for our children. We go out every day looking for flour at a reasonable price, but we find it at unbelievable prices.”
Israel’s campaign against Hamas has almost entirely destroyed Gaza’s ability to feed itself. The UN says 96 percent of the livestock and 99 percent of the poultry are dead. More than 95 percent of Gaza’s prewar cropland is unusable, either too damaged or inaccessible inside Israeli military zones, according to a land survey published this week by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
Israel barred all food and other supplies from entering Gaza for more than two months. It eased the blockade two weeks ago to allow a trickle of aid trucks in for the UN to distribute. The trucks have brought in some food items, mainly flour. But the UN says it has struggled to delivery much of the incoming aid because of looting or Israeli military restrictions.
Almost the entire population of more than 2 million people have been driven from their homes, and most have had to move multiple times to escape Israeli offensives.
Rasha Abu Souleyma said she recently slipped back to her home in Rafah — from which her family had fled to take refuge in Khan Younis — to find some possessions she’d left behind.
She came back with some clothes, pink plastic sunglasses and bracelets that she gave to her two daughters as Eid gifts.
“I can’t buy them clothes or anything,” the 38-year-old said. “I used to bring meat in Eid so they would be happy, but now we can’t bring meat, and I can’t even feed the girls with bread.”
Near her, a group of children played on makeshift swings made of knotted and looped ropes.
Karima Nejelli, a displaced woman from Rafah, pointed out that people in Gaza had now marked both Eid Al-Adha and the other main Islamic holiday, Eid Al-Fitr, two times each under the war. “During these four Eids, we as Palestinians did not see any kind of joy, no sacrifice, no cookies, no buying Eid clothes or anything.”
 

 


Media groups urge Israel to allow Gaza access for foreign journalists

Updated 06 June 2025
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Media groups urge Israel to allow Gaza access for foreign journalists

  • An open letter shared by the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders called the restrictions “a situation that is without precedent in modern warfare.”

NEW YORK: More than 130 news outlets and press freedom groups called Thursday for Israel to immediately lift a near-total ban on international media entering Gaza, while calling for greater protections for Palestinian journalists in the territory.
Israel has blocked most foreign correspondents from independently accessing Gaza since it began its war there following the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack by militant group Hamas.
An open letter shared by the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders called the restrictions “a situation that is without precedent in modern warfare.”
Signees included AFP’s global news director Phil Chetwynd, The Associated Press executive editor Julie Pace, and the editor of Israeli newspaper Haaretz Aluf Benn.
The letter added that many Palestinian journalists — whom news outlets have relied on to report from inside Gaza — face a litany of threats.
“Local journalists, those best positioned to tell the truth, face displacement and starvation,” it said.
“To date, nearly 200 journalists have been killed by the Israeli military. Many more have been injured and face constant threats to their lives for doing their jobs: bearing witness.
“This is a direct attack on press freedom and the right to information.”
The letter added that it was a “pivotal moment” in Israel’s war — with renewed military actions and efforts to boost humanitarian aid to Gaza.
This, it said, makes it “vital that Israel open Gaza’s borders for international journalists to be able to report freely and that Israel abides by its international obligations to protect journalists as civilians.”
Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a separate statement that Israel must grant journalists access and allow them to work in Gaza “without fear for their lives.”
“When journalists are killed in such unprecedented numbers and independent international media is barred from entering, the world loses its ability to see clearly, to understand fully, and to respond effectively to what is happening,” she said.
Reporters Without Borders head Thibaut Bruttin said the media blockade on Gaza “is enabling the total destruction and erasure of the blockaded territory.”
“This is a methodical attempt to silence the facts, suppress the truth, and isolate the Palestinian press and population,” he said in a statement.
Thursday’s letter was issued the same day the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said three reporters were killed by a strike close to a hospital in Gaza City.
Israel’s military said the strike had targeted “an Islamic Jihad terrorist who was operating in a command and control center” in the yard of the hospital.