WHO Chief Deplores 'Unconscionable' Strikes On Red Crescent In Gaza

Medics transfer wounded Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah crossing on Sunday. (AFP)
Medics transfer wounded Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah crossing on Sunday. (AFP)
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WHO Chief Deplores 'Unconscionable' Strikes On Red Crescent In Gaza

Medics transfer wounded Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah crossing on Sunday. (AFP)
Medics transfer wounded Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah crossing on Sunday. (AFP)

The head of the World Health Organization on Tuesday said he deplored the strikes on the Palestine Red Crescent Society headquarters in Gaza, branding them "unconscionable".

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said health must never be a target during conflicts, adding that Gazans were facing a "dire humanitarian catastrophe".

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that Israel twice struck its headquarters in the southern city of Khan Yunis, resulting in "five casualties and three injuries" among displaced people who had sought refuge there and at a nearby hospital.

"I deplore today's strikes on the PRCS-run Al-Amal hospital," Tedros said on X, formerly Twitter, AFP reported.

He said WHO staff and colleagues from the UN humanitarian agency OCHA undertook a mission to the facilities on Tuesday, "where they witnessed extensive damage and displacement of civilians".

Tedros claimed that 14,000 people were sheltering at the hospital.

"Many of them have now left, and those remaining are extremely fearful for their safety and planning to leave a place they had turned to for refuge and protection," the UN health agency's chief said.

"Hospitals, ambulances, health workers, and people seeking care must be protected, at all times, under international humanitarian law," he said.

"Today's bombardments are unconscionable. Gaza's health system is already on its knees, with health and aid workers continuously stymied in their efforts to save lives due to the hostilities."

He reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire, alongside urgent action to get food, medical supplies and water to Gazan civilians "forced to live in unspeakable conditions of hunger, disease spread, and lack of hygiene and sanitation".

Tedros added that only a "fraction" of Gazans needing medical evacuation were being taken out of the Palestinian territory.

"This is unacceptable in light of the dire humanitarian catastrophe which has unfolded over three months," the Ethiopian former health minister said.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for the October 7 attack.

After the worst attack in its history, Israel began a relentless bombardment and ground offensive that has killed at least 22,185 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry.



Relatives of Bashar Assad Arrested as They Tried to Fly Out of Lebanon, Officials Say

A torn poster of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad hangs near the flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, in Daraa, Syria, December 27, 2024. (Reuters)
A torn poster of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad hangs near the flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, in Daraa, Syria, December 27, 2024. (Reuters)
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Relatives of Bashar Assad Arrested as They Tried to Fly Out of Lebanon, Officials Say

A torn poster of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad hangs near the flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, in Daraa, Syria, December 27, 2024. (Reuters)
A torn poster of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad hangs near the flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, in Daraa, Syria, December 27, 2024. (Reuters)

The wife and daughter of one of deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad ’s cousins were arrested Friday at the Beirut airport, where they attempted to fly out with allegedly forged passports, Lebanese judicial and security officials said. Assad’s uncle departed the day before.

Rasha Khazem, the wife of Duraid Assad — the son of former Syrian Vice President Rifaat Assad, the uncle of Bashar Assad — and their daughter, Shams, were smuggled illegally into Lebanon and were trying to fly to Egypt when they were arrested, according to five Lebanese officials familiar with the case.

They were being detained by Lebanese General Security. Rifaat had flown out the day before on his real passport and was not stopped, the officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

Swiss federal prosecutors in March indicted Rifaat on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for allegedly ordering murder and torture more than four decades ago.

Rifaat Assad, the brother of Bashar Assad's father Hafez Assad, Syria's former ruler, led the artillery unit that shelled the city of Hama and killed thousands, earning him the nickname the “Butcher of Hama.”

Earlier this year, Rifaat Assad was indicted in Switzerland for war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with Hama.

Tens of thousands of Syrians are believed to have entered Lebanon illegally on the night of Assad’s fall earlier this month, when insurgent forces entered Damascus.

The Lebanese security and judicial officials said that more than 20 members of the former Syrian Army’s notorious 4th Division, military intelligence officers and others affiliated with Assad’s security forces were arrested earlier in Lebanon. Some of them were arrested when they attempted to sell their weapons.

Lebanon’s public prosecution office also received an Interpol notice requesting the arrest of Jamil al-Hassan, the former director of Syrian intelligence under Assad. Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati previously told Reuters that Lebanon would cooperate with the Interpol request to arrest al-Hassan.