Arab Health Ministers to Hold Urgent Meeting On Covid-19

An Iranian woman wearing a protective mask to prevent contracting a coronavirus walks at Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran February 20, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Nazanin Tabatabaee via REUTERS
An Iranian woman wearing a protective mask to prevent contracting a coronavirus walks at Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran February 20, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Nazanin Tabatabaee via REUTERS
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Arab Health Ministers to Hold Urgent Meeting On Covid-19

An Iranian woman wearing a protective mask to prevent contracting a coronavirus walks at Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran February 20, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Nazanin Tabatabaee via REUTERS
An Iranian woman wearing a protective mask to prevent contracting a coronavirus walks at Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran February 20, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Nazanin Tabatabaee via REUTERS

The Arab Council of Health Ministers called for an urgent meeting on the level of experts to review plans for monitoring and exchanging experiences on ways to combat the new coronavirus (COVID-19).

In a statement issued following the 53rd regular session of the Arab Council of Health Ministers, held in the Arab League headquarters in Cairo on Thursday, the ministers expressed solidarity with China and its efforts to curb down the effects of the virus.

The urgent expert meeting will take place during the second month of March in Cairo, according to the statement.

The ministers also underlined the importance of implementing World Health Organization (WHO) directives, saying that protection and the wellbeing of citizens in the region was of utmost importance.

“It is necessary to enhance communication between the Arab member states, exchange information and continuous coordination between health organizations and related sectors in the Arab countries, as well as precautionary plans developed by Arab countries to confront this disease,” the statement emphasized.

It added that participants urged Arab nations and organizations to follow up on the latest developments concerning the COVID-19 virus, adding that the Arab League was eager to share information in this regard with complete transparency and credibility.



Scores Killed in Gaza as Israel Launches New Incursion in North

FILE PHOTO: People survey the destruction at Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, following Israeli strikes on the enclave, October 14, 2023 in this still image from video obtained by REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People survey the destruction at Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, following Israeli strikes on the enclave, October 14, 2023 in this still image from video obtained by REUTERS/File Photo
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Scores Killed in Gaza as Israel Launches New Incursion in North

FILE PHOTO: People survey the destruction at Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, following Israeli strikes on the enclave, October 14, 2023 in this still image from video obtained by REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People survey the destruction at Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp, following Israeli strikes on the enclave, October 14, 2023 in this still image from video obtained by REUTERS/File Photo

At least 24 people were killed and dozens of others wounded in Israeli airstrikes on a Gaza mosque and a school sheltering displaced people early on Sunday, Palestinian officials said.

A strike was carried out on the mosque near the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
Eyewitnesses said the number of casualties could rise as the mosque was being used to house displaced people.

The Israeli military said it had conducted "precise strikes on Hamas terrorists" who were operating within command and control centres embedded in Ibn Rushd School and the Shuhada al-Aqsa Mosque in the area of Deir al-Balah.

Israel's military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. It has also displaced nearly all of the enclave's 2.3 million people, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.

The military meanwhile announced a new air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, in northern Gaza, home to a densely populated refugee camp dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation. It circulated photos and video footage showing a column of tanks heading toward the area.

The military said its forces had encircled Jabaliya as warplanes struck militant sides ahead of their advance. Over the course of the war, Israel has carried out several large operations there, only to see militants regroup.

Israel also ordered new evacuations in northern Gaza, which largely emptied out in the early weeks of the war when Israel ordered its entire population to flee south. Up to 300,000 people are estimated to have remained there despite harsh conditions and heavy destruction.

“We are in a new phase of the war,” the military said in leaflets dropped over the area. “These areas are considered dangerous combat zones.”
Avichay Adraee, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said it has expanded the so-called humanitarian zone in southern Gaza, urging people to head there. The zone includes sprawling tent camps where hundreds of thousands of people have already sought refuge, and Israel has carried out strikes inside it against what it says are fighters sheltering among civilians.