RAMALLAH, West Bank: Palestinians are facing a winter coronavirus surge driven by the omicron variant, placing stress on the medical system even though vaccines are widely available.
The Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry reported over 70,000 active cases in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, annexed east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip on Thursday, more than twice the number at the height of previous surges.
The real figure is likely much higher, as omicron tends to cause milder symptoms, especially in vaccinated patients, and many people are testing at home.
At least 268 people have been hospitalized in the parts of the occupied West Bank administered by the Palestinian Authority, including 80 in intensive care and 24 people on ventilators. Gaza currently has at least 63 serious cases.
The PA has reported at least 4,859 deaths in the West Bank and Gaza since the start of the pandemic.
Dr. Mahdi Rashed, director of health services for the Ramallah governorate, where the PA is headquartered, says hospitals across the territory are at about 85 percent capacity. “It’s a dangerous sign, and a sign that the worst is yet to come,” he said.
The number of serious cases is not yet as high as during a surge last spring, before vaccines were widely available, but Rashed said the current surge hasn’t yet peaked.
The outbreak follows a similar omicron surge in Israel, where the number of infections hit all-time highs and hospitals have been greatly strained. While infections remain high in Israel, the surge has begun to recede.
Israel launched one of the earliest vaccination rollouts in the world last year but initially declined to share its supplies with the PA. Last summer, it offered 1 million doses of vaccines that were about to expire, but the Palestinians refused, saying they didn’t meet their standards.
Israel captured east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, territories the Palestinians want for a future state, in the 1967 Mideast war. It annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized by most of the international community. It withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Two years later, the Islamic militant group Hamas seized power there, and Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade.
Rights groups said Israel was obliged to provide vaccines as an occupying power. Israel denied having any obligation, citing past agreements with the Palestinians. Israel has provided vaccines to its own Arab citizens, Palestinians in east Jerusalem and tens of thousands of Palestinians who enter Israel to work.
The Palestinian Authority has meanwhile secured its own supply of vaccines, including through a World Health Organization program for developing countries, but only around half of Palestinians have received them. A vaccination center in Ramallah was mostly empty this week.
A testing center adjacent to it was far busier, with dozens of Palestinians coughing through their masks and showing other symptoms of the virus.
Dr. Abdelbasit Zeineddin said up to 2,000 people show up each day, with around half testing positive.
“The numbers are much higher than before,” he said.
Lama Abu Hilou, 22, has had two vaccine doses but started showing symptoms of the virus this week. She said she came to be tested because she fears it spreading among her extended family. Like many Palestinians, they live in the same apartment building and often gather together.
“It’s not just one person getting it, you hear about entire families, the mother, the father, the children, all infected,” she said.
In Gaza, where the health system has been battered by years of conflict, including last year’s war, the Health Ministry is predicting an “unprecedented number of cases” in the coming weeks.
But Dr. Majdi Dhair, the director of preventive medicine at the ministry, said authorities are confident they can overcome the surge, given the relative youth of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million Palestinians.
“Our main concern is infections among health workers that may lead to a staff shortage,” he said.
Palestinians confront winter COVID surge fueled by omicron
https://arab.news/83tw8
Palestinians confront winter COVID surge fueled by omicron
- The Palestinian Authority's Health Ministry reported over 70,000 active cases in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, annexed east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip on Thursday
- The real figure is likely much higher, as omicron tends to cause milder symptoms
How doctors from Syria’s diaspora are helping Homs rebuild its shattered health system
- Syria’s 14-year civil war forced medical professionals to flee in their thousands, depriving the country of critical care
- Diaspora doctors are now rebuilding services in Homs, with a focus on chronic conditions and mental health
LONDON: After 14 years of civil war, Syria’s largest province, Homs, has emerged from the conflict with its health system in tatters. Now, as families begin to return from displacement, diaspora doctors are stepping in to help revive damaged and long-neglected services.
Among them are more than 30 physicians and civic leaders from Chicago. The Syrian American delegation, led by Dr. Zaher Sahloul of the US-based nonprofit MedGlobal, conducted workshops in early April as part of the Homs Healthcare Recovery Initiative.
Sahloul said the scale of the crisis is staggering. “During the conflict, many physicians, subspecialists and allied health professionals left Homs,” he told Arab News. “The main hospital in Homs City, Al-Watani, was completely destroyed.”
The exodus of medical professionals left a “huge shortage of specialists, hospital beds and primary health centers,” highlighting “deep inequality in the distribution of healthcare, especially between the city and rural areas,” said Sahloul.
Outdated technology and a lack of medical supplies, equipment and medications have further hindered care.
Once dubbed the “capital of the revolution,” Homs was a key battleground in the uprising against Bashar Assad that began in 2011. Years of fighting devastated the province’s infrastructure, leaving hospitals in ruins and severely limiting access to basic services.
“Half of Homs city has been destroyed, and several other cities were heavily damaged, shelled, or under siege — including Palmyra, Al-Qaryatayn and Al-Qusayr,” said Sahloul. “A huge number of people fled Homs and became refugees or internally displaced.”
By December 2013, almost half the governorate’s population had been displaced, according to UN figures. In the city of Homs alone, 60 percent of residents fled their homes.
Homs is not alone in experiencing such devastation. Today, only 57 percent of hospitals and 37 percent of primary healthcare centers across Syria are fully operational, according to the World Health Organization.
Insecurity and violence since the fall of Assad in December continue to disrupt health services, endangering both patients and medical staff.
Since March, surging violence in Alawite areas — particularly in Syria’s coastal region and the Homs and Hama governorates — has damaged six major hospitals and several ambulances, according to the UN Population Fund.
More than 1,000 civilians — including many medical students — have been killed in sectarian attacks, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said in early March. The hostilities have also triggered a fresh wave of displacement.
“The escalation reportedly caused additional civilian casualties and injuries, the displacement of thousands of families and damage to critical infrastructure,” Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East, said in a statement on March 9.
IN NUMBERS
• 7 of 17 Hospitals in Homs that are fully functional.
• 58 of 227 Public health facilities that are fully operational.
(Source: WHO)
Within Homs, the healthcare system is particularly strained. According to a February WHO report, just seven of the province’s 17 hospitals and 58 of its 227 public health facilities are fully functional. Another four hospitals and 124 facilities are operating only partially.
Patients with chronic conditions face serious barriers to care. Cancer patients in Homs “have to go to Damascus to receive their treatment,” said Sahloul. “Patients with chronic diseases cannot afford their medications due to the economic situation.
“Some patients on dialysis occasionally miss their treatments due to a shortage of dialysis kits. These kits are expensive, with each session costing around $20 to $25.”
The humanitarian crisis is compounded by economic hardship and continued sanctions. With monthly wages ranging from just $15 to $50 and about 90 percent of the population living below the poverty line, many cannot afford basic care.
Mass layoffs affecting about 250,000 public-sector workers have further strained the system.
The UN estimates that 15.8 million people will require humanitarian health assistance in 2025, even as funding continues to decline.
Mental health needs are also immense. “There are large numbers of war victims, including those displaced by violence and people who have lost family members,” said Sahloul, adding that torture survivors and former detainees are “deeply traumatized.”
He said: “As IDPs and refugees begin to return, the burden on mental health services grows.”
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimates that at least 1.4 million Syrians have returned home since the fall of the Assad regime. It projects that as many as 3.5 million refugees and IDPs could return by the end of the year.
“This means a growing number of people are coming back to areas with limited or no access to essential services like education, housing and healthcare,” said Sahloul. “All of this creates a situation that is nearly catastrophic.”
Given the scale of the crisis, Syria’s Ministry of Health cannot meet all needs alone. Sahloul highlighted the urgent need for support from NGOs and foreign governments to help sustain as well as rebuild the healthcare system.
Aid agencies are stepping in. The UN Office for Project Services, in partnership with the government of Japan, is working to rehabilitate Homs Grand Hospital to restore critical services.
Similarly, the American Syrian Homs Healthcare Recovery mission, led by MedGlobal, has provided emergency supplies, performed critical surgeries and trained local healthcare workers in collaboration with Syrian communities.
Highlighting the initiative’s impact, Sahloul said: “Some teams began filling gaps in the healthcare system by donating funds for essential medical equipment, including a cardiac catheterization machine for Al-Waleed Hospital, an eye echo machine for Al-Harith Hospital, a stress echo machine for a public hospital, neurosurgical equipment for the university hospital and more.”
The mission, which began with a small team and quickly grew to include 650 expatriate physicians, has focused on three urgent priorities: Supporting dialysis patients, sustaining cardiac catheterization centers and addressing mental health.
“As part of the initiative, we provided dialysis kits across three different centers,” said Sahloul.
“Non-communicable diseases, not war-related injuries, are the primary health threat,” he added, citing high rates of smoking, hypertension, diabetes and fast food consumption.
The Ministry of Health has also inaugurated the Homs Center for Mental Health Support to assist survivors of torture and war.
However, Sahloul said that improving healthcare requires more than equipment and supplies — it demands addressing longstanding inequities between urban and rural areas, and among different communities.
“One of MedGlobal’s main missions is to reduce these disparities by identifying and filling gaps in healthcare access,” he said. “Historically, Syria has faced significant inequities between rural and urban areas, as well as within different neighborhoods based on their demographics.
“There are also disparities between major urban centers like Damascus and Aleppo, and the rest of the country. The eastern part of Syria, Hauran and the central regions were historically marginalized.
“By targeting these disparities, there is hope to ease tensions and begin healing a fractured society.”
Despite growing rehabilitation efforts and the commitment of local and international organizations, the scale of need still far exceeds available resources. As instability continues across Syria, both patients and health workers face daily risks.
The path to recovery is long and uncertain. Without sustained support, aid agencies warn, the country’s most vulnerable will remain at risk.
Houthis say 2 killed in US strikes Sanaa
- The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, also reported strikes in other parts of the country, including their stronghold of Saada in the north
SANAA: Houthi media said on Sunday that strikes on Yemen’s capital Sanaa attributed to the US had killed two people and wounded several others.
“Two people were killed and another injured after the Americans targeted a house” in a neighborhood in south Sanaa, the Houthis’ official Saba news agency said.
“Nine others were injured, including two women and three children, in the attack on a residential area in the west of Al-Rawda,” another district of the Yemeni capital, according to the same source.
On Saturday evening, the AFP correspondent in Sanaa reported hearing explosions.
The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, also reported strikes in other parts of the country, including their stronghold of Saada in the north.
They said the fuel port of Ras Issa in the western Hodeida region — where they reported 80 people killed in strikes just over a week ago — had also been hit.
The Houthis portray themselves as defenders of Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.
They have regularly launched missiles and drones at Israel and cargo vessels plying the key Red Sea trade route.
The US military has, since January 2024, been attacking their positions, saying it is trying to stop their attacks.
Those attacks have intensified recently, with strikes carried out almost daily for the past month.
On Sunday, the Houthis claimed to have launched, for the second time in two days, a missile toward Israel.
The Israeli army reported intercepting a missile from Yemen before it crossed into the country’s territory.
On Saturday, CENTCOM, the US military command in the region, posted footage from the US aircraft carriers Harry S. Truman and Carl Vinson conducting strikes against the Houthis.
Sultan of Oman, UK foreign secretary discuss Gaza, US-Iran negotiations
- They met at Al-Barakah Palace in Muscat on Sunday
- David Lammy reaffirmed British government’s commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation
LONDON: Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq discussed regional and international issues with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Al-Barakah Palace in Muscat on Sunday.
The sultan praised cooperation between the two countries, and Lammy reaffirmed the British government’s commitment to strengthening cooperation, the Oman News Agency reported.
They discussed Gaza ceasefire efforts, and US-Iranian negotiations mediated by Oman to reach an agreement regarding Tehran’s nuclear program, ONA reported.
Also in attendance were Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Hamad Al-Busaidi; Sir Oliver Robbins, permanent undersecretary at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office; and British Ambassador Liane Saunders.
Iraq’s judiciary acquits powerful former speaker of forgery
- Halbussi’s media office said on Sunday that “the Iraqi judiciary acquitted” the former head of parliament “of the charges previously brought against him”
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s judiciary has acquitted the influential former parliament speaker, Mohammed Al-Halbussi, after dismissing him in 2023 over accusations of forging a document, his office announced Sunday.
Halbussi had been the highest-ranking Sunni official since he first became speaker of parliament in 2018 with the support of Iraq’s powerful pro-Iran parties, and then in 2022 following early elections.
But in November 2023, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court dismissed Halbussi after a lawmaker accused him of forging a resignation letter and said the former speaker had changed the date on an older document to force him out of parliament.
Halbussi’s media office said on Sunday that “the Iraqi judiciary acquitted” the former head of parliament “of the charges previously brought against him.”
It added that the courts “dismissed the complaints” and closed the investigation.
Halbussi, who heads the Taqadom party, is known for his rapid ascent in Iraqi politics and as a key interlocutor for many Western and Arab dignitaries.
Iraq’s 329-member parliament is dominated by a coalition of pro-Iran Shiite parties.
Under a power-sharing system adopted in Iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion, political positions are divided between Iraq’s ethnic and confessional communities.
In the top positions, the role of prime minister, currently held by Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, always goes to a Shiite Muslim, that of speaker of parliament to a Sunni Muslim and the presidency to a Kurd.
Israel PM calls security chief ‘liar’, in court filing
- Bar’s dismissal, announced by the government last month but frozen by the country’s top court, triggered mass protests.
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an affidavit before the Supreme Court on Sunday, described as a “liar” the country’s internal security chief, whom the government is trying to fire.
Netanyahu’s response came almost a week after Shin Bet head Ronen Bar himself made a sworn statement to the court. It accused the prime minister of demanding personal loyalty and ordering him to spy on anti-government protesters.
Bar’s dismissal, announced by the government last month but frozen by the country’s top court, triggered mass protests.
The unprecedented move to fire the head of the Shin Bet security agency has been contested by the attorney general and the opposition, which appealed Bar’s firing to the Supreme Court.
“The accusation according to which I allegedly demanded action against innocent civilians, or against a non-violent and legitimate protest during the protests of 2023, is an absolute lie,” Netanyahu said in his court statement.
In his own affidavit, Bar had said “it was clear” that in the event of a potential constitutional crisis, Netanyahu would expect Bar to obey the prime minister and not the courts.
Netanyahu countered: “There is no proof supporting these remarks.”
Bar had also denied accusations by Netanyahu and his associates that the Shin Bet had failed to warn in time about Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
“Nothing was hidden” on that night from the security apparatus or the prime minister, Bar said.
Netanyahu countered before the court that Bar “did not accomplish his mission” that night.
“He did not wake up the prime minister. He did not wake up the minister of defense. He did not wake up the soldiers of the army,” or others before the attack, Netanyahu alleged.
The prime minister’s 23-page document said Bar “failed in his role as chief of Shin Bet and lost the confidence of the entire Israeli government as far as his ability to continue to manage the organization.”
Netanyahu’s office had already made similar public comments immediately after Bar filed his affidavit.
An April 8 Supreme Court hearing on the government’s plans to fire Bar ruled that he “will continue to perform his duties until a later decision.”
