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UAE records 1,096 new COVID-19 cases, 3 deaths

A man gets checked for coronavirus at a drive-through testing centre in Dubai, UAE © Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty
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Updated 11 November 2020
Arab News
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UAE records 1,096 new COVID-19 cases, 3 deaths

  • Gargash says UAE has taken effective steps to confront pandemic
  • Kuwait records 903 cases and 5 deaths, Bahrain reports 179 cases and 2 deaths
Updated 11 November 2020
Arab News

DUBAI: The UAE on Tuesday recorded 1,096 new COVID-19 cases and three deaths.
The Ministry of Health and Prevention said the total number of cases since the pandemic began has reached 144,385, with the death toll at 518.
The ministry added that 742 people recovered over the previous 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 139,701.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, said that the Emirati leadership has taken effective steps to confront the coronavirus pandemic to protect public health and at the same time mitigate the negative effects on the economy.
He said that the UAE has provided medical supplies to 118 countries, benefiting more than 1.5 million health workers around the world.
“The UAE insisted that wider political considerations should not be taken into account when providing humanitarian assistance, and that is why the Emirates did not hesitate to provide aid to Iran when it needed it,” he said at the 7th Abu Dhabi Strategic Debate, organized virtually by the Emirates Policy Center as the UAE nears the 50th anniversary of its independence.
Spokesperson for the National Committee for Management and Governance of the Recovery Phase of the COVID-19 Crisis, Saif Al-Dhaheri, said many sectors have been affected by the pandemic, especially health care, economy, tourism, sports, education, aviation and transportation. 
But “the proactive and forward-looking thinking of the UAE government has enabled it to contain the situation and accelerate the process of a safe, gradual return to the new normal life,” he said during a media briefing on the developments of the health situation in the country.
The briefing’s spokesperson Abdul Rahman Al Hammadi said from Nov. 4 to 10 “the total number of deaths reached 15, a decrease of 29 percent, leaving the death rate at 0.4 percent, which is one of the lowest rates in the world compared to the EU which is 2.4 percent, the MENA region at 2.5%, and the the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development at 2.8%.”
Meanwhile, Dubai Economy launched the ‘Smart Inspection’ project, an initiative that helps mitigate the repercussions of the pandemic.
Director Sami Al-Qamzi said the authority is “committed to supporting the emirate’s digital transformation and accelerating the adoption of smart measures to improve the quality of services provided to the community.”

Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways announced that it has launched an in-house production facility to produce face masks for the aviation industry to meet the rise in demand and has already accepted an order for 1.3 million masks to be manufactured.
“Over the next three months, the medical face masks will be distributed to staff across the entire Etihad Aviation Group from cabin and ground crew, to catering, cargo, engineering employees, and medical professionals,” the carrier said in a statement on its website.
Elsewhere, Kuwait recorded 903 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 133,381. The death toll reached 821 after five new fatalities were registered.

Oman’s health ministry confirmed 381 new cases and six deaths, bringing the total to 118,884 and 1,316 respectively.

In Bahrain, two deaths were reported, bringing the death toll to 331, while 179 new infected cases were confirmed.

 

Topics: UAE Anwar Gargash Ministry of Health and Prevention COVID-19 Emirates Policy Center dubai economy Etihad Airways Bahrain Kuwait Oman Coronavirus

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Gaza official says Israel strikes on hospital ‘terrifying’

Updated 23 December 2024
AFP
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Gaza official says Israel strikes on hospital ‘terrifying’

  • The area has been the focus of an intense air and ground campaign by Israeli forces since October 6, aimed at prevent Hamas from regrouping
Updated 23 December 2024
AFP

Gaza Strip: An official from one of only two functioning hospitals in northern Gaza told AFP on Monday that Israeli forces were continuing to target his facility and urged the international community to intervene before “it is too late.”
Hossam Abu Safiyeh, director of Kamal Adwan hospital in the city of Beit Lahia, described the situation at the medical facility as “extremely dangerous and terrifying” owing to shelling by Israeli forces.
An Israeli military spokesman denied that the hospital was being targeted.
“I am unaware of any strikes on Kamal Adwan hospital,” he told AFP.
Safiyeh reported that the hospital, which is currently treating 91 patients, had been targeted on Monday by Israeli drones.
“This morning, drones dropped bombs in the hospital’s courtyards and on its roof,” said Safiyeh in a statement.
“The shelling, which also destroyed nearby houses and buildings, did not stop throughout the night.”
The shelling and bombardment have caused extensive damage to the hospital, Safiyeh added.
“Bullets hit the intensive care unit, the maternity ward, and the specialized surgery department causing fear among patients,” he said, adding that a generator was also targeted.
“The world must understand that our hospital is being targeted with the intent to kill and forcibly displace the people inside.
“We face a constant threat every day. The shelling continues from all directions... The situation is extremely critical and requires urgent international intervention before it is too late,” he said.
On Sunday, Safiyeh said he received orders to evacuate the hospital, but the military denied issuing such directives.
Located in Beit Lahia, the hospital is one of only two still operational in northern Gaza.
The area has been the focus of an intense air and ground campaign by Israeli forces since October 6, aimed at prevent Hamas from regrouping.
Most of the dead and injured from the offensive are brought to Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda hospitals.
The United Nations and other organizations have repeatedly decried the worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza, particularly in the north, since the latest military offensive began.
Rights groups have consistently appealed for hospitals to be protected and for the urgent delivery of medical aid and fuel to keep the facilities running.
Israeli officials have accused Hamas militants of using the hospitals as command and control centers to plan attacks against the military.
The war in Gaza broke out on October 7 last year after Hamas militants launched an attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 45,259 people, a majority of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, figures the UN says are reliable.

Topics: War on Gaza Gaza Hamas Israel

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Some gaps have narrowed in elusive Gaza ceasefire deal, sides say

Updated 23 December 2024
Reuters
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Some gaps have narrowed in elusive Gaza ceasefire deal, sides say

  • Palestinian official familiar with the talks said some sticking points had been resolved
  • But identity of some of Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in return for hostages yet to be agreed
Updated 23 December 2024
Reuters

CAIRO/JERUSALEM: Gaps between Israel and Hamas over a possible Gaza ceasefire have narrowed, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials’ remarks on Monday, though crucial differences have yet to be resolved.
A fresh bid by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the fighting and release Israeli and foreign hostages has gained momentum this month, though no breakthrough has yet been reported.
A Palestinian official familiar with the talks said while some sticking points had been resolved, the identity of some of the Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in return for hostages had yet to be agreed, along with the precise deployment of Israeli troops in Gaza.
His remarks corresponded with comments by the Israeli diaspora minister, Amichai Chikli, who said both issues were still being negotiated. Nonetheless, he said, the sides were far closer to reaching agreement than they have been for months.
“This ceasefire can last six months or it can last 10 years, it depends on the dynamics that will form on the ground,” Chikli told Israel’s Kan radio. Much hinged on what powers would be running and rehabilitating Gaza once fighting stopped, he said.
The duration of the ceasefire has been a fundamental sticking point throughout several rounds of failed negotiations. Hamas wants an end to the war, while Israel wants an end to Hamas’ rule of Gaza first.
“The issue of ending the war completely hasn’t yet been resolved,” said the Palestinian official.
Israeli minister Zeev Elkin, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, told Israel’s Army Radio that the aim was to find an agreed framework that would resolve that difference during a second stage of the ceasefire deal.
Chikli said the first stage would be a humanitarian phase that will last 42 days and include a hostage release.
HOSPITAL
The war was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed more than 45,200 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.
At least 11 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Monday, medics said.
One of Gaza’s few still partially functioning hospitals, on its northern edge, an area under intense Israeli military pressure for nearly three months, sought urgent help after being hit by Israeli fire.
“We are facing a continuous daily threat,” said Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital. “The bombing continues from all directions, affecting the building, the departments, and the staff.”
The Israeli military did not immediately comment. On Sunday it said it was supplying fuel and food to the hospital and helping evacuate some patients and staff to safer areas.
Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone, which Israel denies.
Israel says its operation around the three communities on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip — Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia — is targeting Hamas militants.
On Monday, the United Nations’ aid chief, Tom Fletcher, said Israeli forces had hampered efforts to deliver much needed aid in northern Gaza.
“North Gaza has been under a near-total siege for more than two months, raising the specter of famine,” he said. “South Gaza is extremely overcrowded, creating horrific living conditions and even greater humanitarian needs as winter sets in.”

Topics: War on Gaza Israel Gaza

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Palestinians in Jenin observe a general strike

Updated 23 December 2024
AP
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Palestinians in Jenin observe a general strike

  • The Palestinian Authority exercises limited authority in population centers in the West Bank
Updated 23 December 2024
AP

JENIN: Palestinians in the volatile northern West Bank town of Jenin are observing a general strike called by militant groups to protest a rare crackdown by Palestinian security forces.
An Associated Press reporter in Jenin heard gunfire and explosions, apparently from clashes between militants and Palestinian security forces. It was not immediately clear if anyone was killed or wounded. There was no sign of Israeli troops in the area.
Shops were closed in the city on Monday, the day after militants killed a member of the Palestinian security forces and wounded two others.
Militant groups called for a general strike across the territory, accusing the security forces of trying to disarm them in support of Israel’s half-century occupation of the territory.
The Western-backed Palestinian Authority is internationally recognized but deeply unpopular among Palestinians, in part because it cooperates with Israel on security matters. Israel accuses the authority of incitement and of failing to act against armed groups.
The Palestinian Authority blamed Sunday’s attack on “outlaws.” It says it is committed to maintaining law and order but will not police the occupation.
The Palestinian Authority exercises limited authority in population centers in the West Bank. Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Mideast War, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state.
Israel’s current government is opposed to Palestinian statehood and says it will maintain open-ended security control over the territory. Violence has soared in the West Bank following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, which ignited the war there.

Topics: Palestine PLO West Bank Jenin

Qatari minister arrives in Damascus on first Qatar Airways flight since Assad’s fall

Updated 23 December 2024
Reuters
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Qatari minister arrives in Damascus on first Qatar Airways flight since Assad’s fall

Updated 23 December 2024
Reuters

DUBAI: Qatar’s minister of state for foreign affairs arrived in Damascus on Monday on the first Qatar Airways flight to the Syrian capital since the fall of President Bashar Assad two weeks ago, Doha’s foreign ministry said.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson said Mohammed Al-Khulaifi was the most senior official of the Gulf Arab state to visit Syria since militants toppled the Assad family’s 54-year-long rule.

Topics: Fall of Assad Qatar Syria Ahmed Al-Sharaa

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Iran foreign ministry affirms support for Syria’s sovereignty

Updated 23 December 2024
AFP
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Iran foreign ministry affirms support for Syria’s sovereignty

  • Assad fled Syria earlier this month as rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) entered the capital Damascus
Updated 23 December 2024
AFP

TEHRAN: Iran affirmed its support for Syria’s sovereignty on Monday, and said the country should not become “a haven for terrorism” after the fall of president Bashar Assad, a longtime Tehran ally.
“Our principled position on Syria is very clear: preserving the sovereignty and integrity of Syria and for the people of Syria to decide on its future without destructive foreign interference,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a weekly press briefing.
He added that the country should not “become a haven for terrorism,” saying such an outcome would have “repercussions” for countries in the region.
Assad fled Syria earlier this month as rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) entered the capital Damascus after a lightning offensive.
The takeover by HTS — proscribed as a terrorist organization by many governments including the United States — has sparked concern, though the group has in recent years sought to moderate its image.
Headed by Ahmed Al-Sharaa, Syria’s new leader and an ardent opponent of Iran, the group has spoken out against the Islamic republic’s influence in Syria under Assad.
Tehran helped prop up Assad during Syria’s long civil war, providing him with military advisers.
During Monday’s press briefing, Baqaei said Iran had “no direct contact” with Syria’s new rulers.
Sharaa has received a host of foreign delegations since coming to power.
He met on Sunday with Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan, and on Monday with Jordan’s top diplomat Ayman Safadi.
On Friday, the United States’ top diplomat for the Middle East Barbara Leaf held a meeting with Sharaa, later saying she expected Syria would completely end any role for Iran in its affairs.
A handful of European delegations have also visited in recent days.
Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, which has long supported Syria’s opposition, is expected to send a delegation soon, according to Syria’s ambassador in Riyadh.

Topics: Iran Syria

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