Saudi-UN Cooperation in Yemen to Carry Out Environmental Reforms, Combat Cholera

Saudi-UN Cooperation in Yemen to Carry Out Environmental Reforms, Combat Cholera
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Saudi-UN Cooperation in Yemen to Carry Out Environmental Reforms, Combat Cholera

Saudi-UN Cooperation in Yemen to Carry Out Environmental Reforms, Combat Cholera

King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) on Monday signed two projects with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The projects were signed by Advisor at the Royal Court and General Supervisor of KSRelief Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Rabeeah and UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Khairat Kabalari.

The first project aims to fight cholera, rehabilitate household water tanks, provide potable water and chlorination for disinfection, qualify water systems, build and qualify toilets and get rid of solid waste.

While the second one covers providing vaccines against polio, measles, rubella, mumps, whooping cough, tetanus, meningitis, hepatitis B and diphtheria diseases for children under the age of five, benefiting around 1.14 million children.

It aims at reducing morbidity and mortality due to vaccine-preventable diseases, improving the health status of children in Yemen and decreasing the spread of these diseases.

Approximately 390,000 children under age one will be vaccinated against the nine diseases and 750,000 children under five will be immunized against measles and rubella.

The project also covers the training of 2,000 male and female health workers, organizing 600 house visits, implementing health education and distributing one million explanatory brochures.

Rabeeah said that the projects cover all Yemeni areas and follow the directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, who provided $66 million to combat cholera.

Kabalari, for his part, said that KSRelief is an important partner in the relief work in Yemen and is doing clear and positive work.

He pointed out that this partnership has been made between the two sides three years ago to meet the needs of children in need in several countries including Yemen, Syria and Bangladesh.

The projects will help fight cholera in Yemen and put an end to the suffering of millions of children, Kabalari stressed.



Israeli Army Forces Patients Out of a North Gaza Hospital, Medics Say

 A Palestinian man walks with children in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A Palestinian man walks with children in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
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Israeli Army Forces Patients Out of a North Gaza Hospital, Medics Say

 A Palestinian man walks with children in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A Palestinian man walks with children in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)

Israeli troops forced the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza and many patients, some of them on foot, arrived at another hospital miles away in Gaza City, the territory's health ministry said on Tuesday.

The Indonesian Hospital is one of the Gaza Strip's few still partially functioning hospitals, on its northern edge, an area that has been under intense Israeli military pressure for nearly three months.

Israel says its operation around the three northern Gaza communities surrounding the hospital - Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia - is targeting Hamas fighters.

A statement from the Israeli military said the Indonesian Hospital was being used by fighters to launch attacks against Israeli troops and that it "facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, medical personnel, and patients from the area both before and during the operation".

Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone, which Israel denies.

Munir Al-Bursh, director of the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, said the Israeli army had ordered hospital officials to evacuate it on Monday, before storming it in the early hours of Tuesday and forcing those inside to leave.

He said two other medical facilities in northern Gaza, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan Hospitals, were also subject to frequent assaults by Israeli troops.

Israeli forces have operated in the vicinity of the Kamal Adwan hospital since Monday, medics said.

Officials at the three hospitals have refused orders by Israel to evacuate their facilities or leave patients unattended since the new military offensive began on Oct. 5.

Israel says it has been facilitating the delivery of medical supplies, fuel and the transfer of patients to other hospitals in the enclave during that period in collaboration with international agencies such as the World Health Organization.

Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, said they resisted a new order by the army to evacuate hundreds of patients, their companions and staff, adding that the hospital has been under constant Israeli fire that damaged generators, oxygen pumps and parts of the building.

An Israeli security official said the area was a Hamas stronghold.

"Kamal Adwan is at the heart of the most complex fighting in Jabaliya," he said. "We are being very careful."

NEW STRIKES

Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment continued elsewhere in the enclave and medics said at least nine Palestinians, including a member of the civil emergency service, were killed in four separate military strikes on Tuesday.

The war in Gaza 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 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.

A new 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 been reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said progress had been made in hostage negotiations with Hamas but that he did not know how much longer it would take to see the results.

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.