BEIRUT: In Lebanon’s biggest public hospital, nurses are busy honing their life-saving skills as the spectre of all-out war looms, 10 months into intensifying clashes between Hezbollah and Israel over the Gaza war.
“We are in a state of readying for war,” nurse Basima Khashfi said as she gave emergency training to young nurses and other staff at the hospital in Beirut.
“We are currently training employees — not just nurses, but also administrative and security staff.
“With our current capabilities, we’re almost prepared” in case of a wider war, she told AFP.
Lebanon has been setting in motion public health emergency plans since hostilities began, relying mostly on donor funds after five years of gruelling economic crisis.
The threat of full-blown war grew after Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement vowed to avenge the killings last month, blamed on Israel, of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in south Beirut.
“We’re training to handle mass casualty incidents and to prepare for disasters or war,” said Lamis Dayekh, a 37-year-old nurse undergoing training. “If war breaks out, we’ll give everything we have.”
Growing tensions
The cross-border violence has killed nearly 600 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but including at least 131 civilians, according to an AFP tally.
On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, 23 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed, army figures show.
In a building next to the hospital, where the emergency operations center is located, health ministry officials are busy typing away, making calls and monitoring news of the war in Gaza and south Lebanon on large television screens.
“This is not our first war and we have been ready every time,” said Wahida Ghalayini, who heads the center, active since hostilties began in October.
She cited a massive 2020 Beirut port explosion, Hezbollah and Israel’s 2006 conflict and Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war.
The health ministry’s plan includes a helpline for those already displaced by war, an assessment of hospital needs, disaster training for staff and a mental health module.
The emergency room coordinates with rescue teams and hospitals in Lebanon’s south.
The plan prioritizes hospitals based on their location. The “red zone,” at high risk of Israeli strikes, comprises Hezbollah’s strongholds in the country’s south, east and Beirut’s southern suburbs.
But despite Lebanon’s long history of civil unrest and disasters, the public health sector now faces an economic crisis that has drained state coffers, forcing it to rely on aid.
Calls for aid
“We need lots of medical supplies, fuel, oxygen... the Lebanese state has a financial and economic problem,” said Ghalayini.
The state electricity provider barely produces power, so residents rely on expensive private generators and solar panels.
Most medical facilities depend on solar power during the day, she said, pointing to panels atop the adjacent hospital’s roof and parking lot.
Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said the country had enough drugs and medical supplies to last at least four months in case of a wider war.
“Efforts to increase readiness follow the (Israeli) enemy entity’s threat of expanding its aggression,” Abiad said in a statement.
Last month’s strike that killed a top Hezbollah commander targeted a densely packed residential area, killing five civilians and wounding scores more.
It tested the readiness of Beirut hospitals in the high-risk Hezbollah stronghold, Ghalayini told AFP.
As Israel threatens full-scale war, Lebanon is also looking to health workers in Gaza for emergency planning strategies, she said.
“We are observing the Gaza emergency center... to learn from them,” she said, pointing at television footage of bloodied patients at a hospital in Gaza, where the death toll has sparked mounting concerns.
For 25-year-old nurse Mohamed Hakla, the prospect of war is frightening but “our job is to help others. I will not deprive people of this (help) because of fear.”
Bracing for war: Lebanese hospitals ready emergency plans
https://arab.news/cxuc9
Bracing for war: Lebanese hospitals ready emergency plans
- Lebanon has been setting in motion public health emergency plans since hostilities began
Iraqi, Syrian foreign ministers discuss cooperation against Daesh threat
- Stability along shared border a priority, say officials
- Concern over threat to neighbors, Palestinian cause
DUBAI: Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and his Syrian counterpart Asaad Hassan Al-Shaibani spoke telephonically on Monday to discuss various issues, including the ongoing threat posed by Daesh along the two nations’ shared border, the Iraqi News Agency reported.
Hussein, who is also Iraq’s deputy prime minister, emphasized the importance of enhanced cooperation to counter the danger posed by the group. Al-Shaibani confirmed Syria’s readiness to coordinate efforts to confront terrorist groups.
This call follows discussions between Iraq’s intelligence chief, Hamid Al-Shatri, and Syrian officials during a recent visit to Damascus, the INA reported.
Hussein also congratulated Al-Shaibani on his new role as Syria’s top envoy. He further praised the Syrian government’s efforts to safeguard Iraq’s diplomatic mission in Damascus.
He reiterated Iraq’s commitment to resume all functions of the mission, while Al-Shaibani underlined Syria’s aim to strengthen ties between the two nations.
Meanwhile, Nouri Al-Maliki, the head of Iraq’s State of Law Coalition, reiterated his nation’s foreign policy, stating that “Iraq does not help divide Syria and does not interfere in its affairs.”
Al-Maliki highlighted the broader regional implications of instability in Syria, including the potential threats to neighboring nations and the Palestinian cause.
He further called for political unity within Iraq and collaboration with various factions, including the Sadrist movement, to bolster the country’s internal stability.
Al-Maliki also discussed ongoing efforts to amend Iraq’s election law after the legislative recess and emphasized the importance of maintaining state control over armed groups, including the Popular Mobilization Forces, to bolster national security.
These developments underscore the deepening of Iraqi-Syrian relations and the commitment of both nations to addressing common challenges while reinforcing regional stability, the INA reported.
WHO demands Israel release Gaza hospital director
- Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital director is being held by Israel’s military following a major raid on facility
- Assault on Kamal Adwan left northern Gaza’s last major health facility out of service, says WHO
GENEVA: The WHO chief called Monday for the immediate release of Hossam Abu Safiyeh, director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, who is being held by Israel’s military following a major raid on the facility.
The Friday-Saturday assault on Kamal Adwan in Beit Lahia left northern Gaza’s last major health facility out of service and emptied of patients, the World Health Organization said.
“Hospitals in Gaza have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
“Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza is out of service following the raid, forced patient and staff evacuation and the detention of its director. His whereabouts are unknown. We call for his immediate release.”
Israel’s military said Sunday that its forces had killed approximately 20 Palestinian militants and apprehended “240 terrorists” in the raid, calling it one of its “largest operations” conducted in the territory.
The military also said had detained Abu Safiyeh, suspecting him of being a Hamas militant. When asked if he had been transferred to Israeli territory for further questioning, the military did not offer an immediate comment.
Tedros said the patients in critical condition at Kamal Adwan had been moved to the Indonesian Hospital, “which is itself out of function.”
“Amid ongoing chaos in northern Gaza, WHO and partners today delivered basic medical and hygiene supplies, food and water to Indonesian Hospital and transferred 10 critical patients to Al-Shifa Hospital,” he said.
“We urge Israel to ensure their health care needs and rights are upheld.”
He said seven patients along with 15 caregivers and health workers remained at the “severely damaged” Indonesian Hospital, “which has no ability to provide care.”
“Al-Ahli Hospital and Al-Wafa Rehabilitation Hospital in Gaza City also faced attacks today and both are damaged,” Tedros added.
“We repeat: stop attacks on hospitals. People in Gaza need access to health care. Humanitarians need access to provide health aid.”
Since October 6 this year, Israeli operations in Gaza have focused on the north, with officials saying their land and air offensive aims to prevent Hamas from regrouping.
Gulf cooperation council chief affirms support for Syria during visit
- Al-Budaiwi condemned the repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian territory
RIYADH: Jasem Al-Budaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), met on Monday with Syria’s new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa in the capital Damascus, the Saudi Press Agency said.
Al-Budaiwi said the visit affirms the GCC’s support for Syria’s unity and stability to achieve security, prosperity, and development for the Syrian people.
The secretary-general, who was accompanied by Kuwait’s FM Abdullah Al-Yahya, said that the Gulf countries have always stressed the need to respect Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, reject foreign interventions, and combat terrorism and extremism, while respecting religious and cultural diversity in the country.
He condemned the repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, calling on Israel to withdraw its forces from occupied Syrian lands.
Al-Budaiwi stressed that the Golan Heights are Syrian land and rejected any Israeli settlement expansion in the plateau.
He reiterated the need to lift economic sanctions on Syria and provide humanitarian and economic support to the Syrian people to alleviate their suffering and enhance efforts to rebuild the country.
He stressed the importance of supporting national reconciliation, rebuilding the Syrian state, ensuring civilian safety, the decision to dissolve militias and armed factions, and confining weapons to the state’s control.
The GCC “welcomes the UN's call to establish a special mission to support the political transition process in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter to help the Syrian people achieve a Syrian-led political process,” Al-Budaiwi said.
Syria appoints some foreign Islamist fighters to its military, sources say
- Thousands of foreigners joined Syria’s rebels early in the 13-year civil war to fight against the rule of Bashar Assad and the Iran-backed Shiite militias who supported him, giving the conflict a sectarian overtone
DAMASCUS: Syria’s new rulers have installed some foreign fighters including Uyghurs, a Jordanian and a Turk in the country’s armed forces as Damascus tries to shape a patchwork of rebel groups into a professional military, two Syrian sources said.
The move to give official roles, including senior ones, to several militants may alarm some foreign governments and Syrian citizens fearful about the new administration’s intentions, despite its pledges not to export Islamic revolution and to rule with tolerance toward Syria’s large minority groups.
A Syrian government spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment on the thinking behind the appointments.
The sources said that out of a total of almost 50 military roles announced by the Defense Ministry on Sunday, at least six had gone to foreigners.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the nationalities of the individuals appointed.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Some foreign rebel leaders given senior military roles in Syria
• Move is ‘token of recognition’ of war role, source says
• HTS leader Sharaa purged some foreign fighters, now offers others citizenship
• China labels TIP a terrorist group, concerned about Uyghur militants
Thousands of Sunni Muslim foreigners joined Syria’s rebels early in the 13-year civil war to fight against the rule of Bashar Assad and the Iran-backed Shiite militias who supported him, giving the conflict a sectarian overtone.
Some foreign fighters formed their own armed groups while others joined established formations such as Daesh as it rampaged across Iraq and Syria, briefly declaring a so-called caliphate before being routed by US and Iran-backed forces.
Other groups of foreign militants joined HTS, which disavowed previous links to Al-Qaeda and Daesh and fought bloody battles against them before going on to spearhead the lightning advance that toppled Assad on Dec. 8.
Ahmed Al-Sharaa, the HTS-leader-turned de facto ruler of Syria, has purged dozens of foreign jihadi fighters as part of a campaign to Syrianize and moderate his group.
In remarks broadcast on Sunday, Sharaa said the new Syria “cannot be run by the mentality of groups and militias.”
Syria’s new rulers, drawn mainly from HTS, have indicated that foreign fighters and their families may be given Syrian citizenship and be allowed to stay in the country because of their contributions to the fight against Assad.
The Defense Ministry on Sunday announced 49 appointments to the army that included leaders of key Syrian armed factions.
Among them were several foreign fighters, three given the rank of brigadier-general and at least three others the rank of colonel, a Syrian military source said.
’TOKEN OF RECOGNITION’
“This is a small token of recognition for the sacrifices Islamist militants gave to our struggle for freedom from Assad’s oppression,” an HTS source told Reuters.
Chinese Uyghur militant Abdulaziz Dawood Khudaberdi, also known as Zahid and the commander of the separatist Turkistan Islamic Party’s (TIP) forces in Syria, was appointed a brigadier-general, a TIP statement said and the Syrian military source confirmed.
Two other Uyghur fighters, Mawlan Tarsoun Abdussamad and Abdulsalam Yasin Ahmad, were given the rank of colonel, said the TIP statement published on its website, congratulating them and the Uyghur community on the appointments.
All the names appear in Sunday’s Defense Ministry announcement, though the nationalities are not included.
The TIP is thought to have hundreds of fighters in Syria and aims to establish a Daesh in parts of China and central Asia, where there is a large Uyghur Muslim population.
Rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuses of Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority that numbers around 10 million in the western region of Xinjiang, including the mass use of forced labor in camps. Beijing denies any abuses.
There was no immediate comment from the Chinese foreign ministry.
China labels the TIP a terrorist organization responsible for plots to attack overseas Chinese targets. Beijing has said TIP “gravely threatens” China’s interests and security overseas and that combating the group was China’s “core concern” in its counter-terrorism effort.
Turkish citizen Omar Mohammed Jaftashi and Jordanian citizen Abdul Rahman Hussein Al-Khatib were also made brigadier-generals, the Syrian military source and the HTS source said.
Abdul Jashari, an ethnically Albanian fighter also known as Abu Qatada Al-Albani, was appointed colonel, the military source said.
Jashari head the Albanian militant group Xhemati Alban and was designated a militant by the US Treasury in 2016.
Egyptian Alaa Mohammed Abdel-Baqi was also given a military rank, the source said.
Egypt’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israel army says intercepted missile launched from Yemen
- The latest warnings from top Israeli officials came after a missile fired by the Houthis wounded 16 people in Israel’s main commercial city of Tel Aviv
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military on Monday said that it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen before it crossed into Israeli territory.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been firing missiles and drones at Israel and ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in what they describe as solidarity with Palestinians since the war in the Gaza Strip broke out in October of last year.
In recent weeks, they have claimed to have fired several missiles at Israel, triggering retaliatory strikes from Israel targeting the rebels’ strategic assets and infrastructure.
“Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in central Israel, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the IAF (air force) prior to crossing into Israeli territory,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
Israel’s emergency service provider, Magen David Adom, reported that it had received no reports of any casualties so far.
On Saturday, Israel intercepted a similar missile launched from Yemen.
The Iran-backed Houthis have controlled large parts of Yemen since seizing Sanaa and ousting the government in 2014.
They have stepped up their attacks since November’s ceasefire between Israel and another Iran-backed group, Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel has also struck Yemen, including targeting Sanaa’s international airport on Thursday.
An Israeli statement said its targets included “military infrastructure” at the airport and power stations in Sanaa and Hodeida — a major entry point for humanitarian aid — as well as other facilities at several ports.
Houthis use these sites “to smuggle Iranian weapons into the region and for the entry of senior Iranian officials,” the statement said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned the Houthis, saying that Israeli strikes against them would “continue until the job is done.”
“We are determined to cut this branch of terrorism from the Iranian axis of evil,” he said in a video statement last week.
Defense Minister Israel Katz also recently declared: “We will hunt down all of the Houthis’ leaders — nobody will be able to evade the long arm of Israel.”
The latest warnings from top Israeli officials came after a missile fired by the Houthis wounded 16 people in Israel’s main commercial city of Tel Aviv.
That attack prompted strikes by the United States against the rebels in Sanaa.
American and British forces have repeatedly struck rebel targets in Yemen this year in response to Houthi attacks on shipping in Red Sea-area waters vital to global trade.
In July, a Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv killed an Israeli civilian, prompting the first Israeli retaliation on Hodeida.
