Morocco Ministers, Senior Officials Donate a Month's Salary for Quake Relief Efforts

A meeting of Moroccan cabinet members (MAP).
A meeting of Moroccan cabinet members (MAP).
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Morocco Ministers, Senior Officials Donate a Month's Salary for Quake Relief Efforts

A meeting of Moroccan cabinet members (MAP).
A meeting of Moroccan cabinet members (MAP).

Morocco's government has announced that ministers, deputy ministers, and other officials will donate one month's net salary for the relief efforts for the earthquake victims in several Moroccan provinces.

During its meeting on Thursday, the government announced that the ministers, deputy ministers, the high commissioners, the general commissioner, and the ministerial commissioner would donate a one month's net salary.

Other public servants throughout the country will donate a one day's pay for each of the next three months: September, October, and November.

The pay will be deducted from their net salary before taxes or any retirement and social security contributions.

A government statement highlighted this national solidarity effort, referencing Article 40 of the constitution, which states everyone should bear, in a spirit of solidarity and proportion to their means, the costs required for the country's development and those resulting from the burdens caused by disasters and natural catastrophes that afflict the nation.

The initiative also comes in response to Moroccan King Mohammed VI's directives to address the devastating effects of the recent earthquake.

The government lauded the spirit of solidarity and unity exhibited by the Moroccan people during these challenging times.



Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A campaign to inoculate children in Gaza against polio and prevent the spread of the virus began on Saturday, Gaza's Health Ministry said, as Palestinians in both the Hamas-governed enclave and the occupied West Bank reeled from Israel's ongoing military offensives.

Children in Gaza began receiving vaccines, the health ministry told a news conference, a day before the large-scale vaccine rollout and planned pause in fighting agreed to by Israel and the UN World Health Organization. The WHO confirmed the larger campaign would begin Sunday.

“There must be a ceasefire so that the teams can reach everyone targeted by this campaign,” said Dr. Yousef Abu Al-Rish, deputy health minister, describing scenes of sewage running through crowded tent camps in Gaza.

Associated Press journalists saw about 10 infants receiving vaccine doses at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.

Israel is expected to pause some operations in Gaza on Sunday to allow health workers to administer vaccines to some 650,000 Palestinian children. Officials said the pause would last at least nine hours and is unrelated to ongoing cease-fire negotiations.

“We will vaccinate up to 10-year-olds and God willing we will be fine,” said Dr. Bassam Abu Ahmed, general coordinator of public health programs at Al-Quds University.

The vaccination campaign comes after the first polio case in 25 years in Gaza was discovered this month. Doctors concluded a 10-month-old had been partially paralyzed by a mutated strain of the virus after not being vaccinated due to fighting.

Healthcare workers in Gaza have been warning of the potential for a polio outbreak for months. The humanitarian crisis has deepened during the war that broke out after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants.

Hours earlier, the Health Ministry said hospitals received 89 dead on Saturday, including 26 who died in an overnight Israeli bombardment, and 205 wounded — one of the highest daily tallies in months.