Sudanese Initiative Launched to Protect Medics

Sudanese Initiative Launched to Protect Medics
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Sudanese Initiative Launched to Protect Medics

Sudanese Initiative Launched to Protect Medics

The Sudanese people are increasingly concerned with the spread of the new coronavirus, especially after a third person tested positive on Wednesday.

Many COVID-19 social awareness campaigns have been launched in the country.

Israa Adam Ahmed, the head of Builders Without Borders, a volunteer-based community service, pointed out that a greater burden falls on social workers to help in raising awareness to prevent matters from getting worse as the country already has a weak healthcare system.

Ahmed added that even developed states weren’t able to curb the pandemic.

Ahmed cautioned against non-compliance with the preventive guidelines, advice provided by health officials and decisions taken by local authorities.

She recommended social distancing, warning that public gatherings could lead to a catastrophic scenario in Sudan.

As for coronavirus social work done by Builders Without Borders, Ahmed said the group had carried out an awareness campaign in some of Sudan’s busiest markets.

During the campaign, volunteers distributed sterilizers to the public.

A number of doctors have launched the "Hanahmih" initiative, which aims to protect the medical staff working in hospitals from the risk of infection, and to provide protective masks and eyewear by collecting donations.

The head of the initiative, Dr.Manal Al-Duqair, said that the move started on social media and was successful in providing sterilizers and masks.

“Hospitals in Sudan need a (million) protective face masks. Deaths among Sudanese medics could match Italy and China if they are not protected,” Duqair said.

Young men and women in a number of Sudanese cities and villages have been active in sterilizing mosques, and providing sterilizers and disinfectants for pedestrians at transportation and road stations.

Sudanese pharmacist Fatima Mohamed Al-Hassan says that pharmacists are spending unremitting efforts to support the government.

In order to help with the scarcity of sterilizers, Hassan revealed that some pharmacists are producing sanitizers, locally distributing them to hospitals and the public.



Netanyahu ‘Takes Revenge’ on Macron in Lebanon

 A photo of Netanyahu and Macron during their meeting in Jerusalem in October 2023 (AFP)
 A photo of Netanyahu and Macron during their meeting in Jerusalem in October 2023 (AFP)
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Netanyahu ‘Takes Revenge’ on Macron in Lebanon

 A photo of Netanyahu and Macron during their meeting in Jerusalem in October 2023 (AFP)
 A photo of Netanyahu and Macron during their meeting in Jerusalem in October 2023 (AFP)

Israel’s insistence that France can not be a member of the international committee that will monitor a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon is due to a series of French practices that have disturbed Israel recently, political sources in Tel Aviv revealed.
These practices are most notably attributed to the French judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, who has joined other judges to unanimously issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the sources revealed.
“The Israeli government is following with concern the French role at The Hague,” they said, noting that veteran French lawyer Gilles Devers led a team of 300 international lawyers of various nationalities who volunteered to accuse Israel of “committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
According to the Israeli Maariv newspaper, Israeli officials believe that Devers, who signed the arrest warrant against Netanyahu and Galant, would not have dared to do so without having received a green light from French President Emmanuel Macron.
Israeli sources also mentioned other reasons for Israel’s anger at France, such as the government’s decision to bar Israeli firms from exhibiting at the Euronaval arms show near Paris earlier this month.
French officials have repeatedly said that Paris is committed to Israel's security and point out that its military helped defend Israel after Iranian attacks in April and earlier this month.
Paris has so far also refused to recognize the Palestinian state. But the Israeli government is not satisfied. It wants France to follow the United States and blindly support its war in Gaza and Lebanon.
Tel Aviv also feels incredibly confident that France should be punished, and therefore, decided that Paris could not participate in the Lebanese ceasefire agreement, knowing that the Israeli government itself has traveled to Paris several times begging for its intervention, especially during the war on Lebanon.
Meanwhile, an air of optimism has emerged in Israel around the chances for an end to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon following negotiations led by US envoy Amos Hochstein.
But any optimism relies on Netanyahu’s final decision. The PM is still conducting talks with his friends and allies of the far right who reject the ceasefire agreement and instead, demand that Lebanese citizens not be allowed to return to their villages on the border with Israel. They also request that a security belt be turned into a permanently depopulated and mined zone.
Hochstein Talks
Meanwhile, political sources in Israel claim that what is holding up a ceasefire deal so far is Lebanon. According to Israel's Channel 12, Hochstein expressed a “firm stance” during his talks with the Lebanese side. The envoy delivered clear terms that were passed on to Hezbollah, which the channel said “led to significant progress” in the talks.
Israeli officials said that Tel Aviv is moving towards a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon with Hezbollah in the coming days.
The channel said that during his late visit to Tel Aviv, coming from Beirut after talks with Speaker Nabih Barri, Hochstein said, “I placed before them (Lebanese officials) a final warning, and it seems to have been effective.”
Iran Obstacle
Despite the “positive atmosphere,” informed diplomatic sources pointed to a major obstacle: Iran.
Channel 12 quoted the sources as saying that Lebanon has not yet received the final approval required from Iran, which has significant influence over Hezbollah.

According to the draft proposal, the Lebanese Army must be redeployed to the south and carry out a comprehensive operation to remove weapons from villages. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces will “supervise and monitor the implementation of the operation.”
Channel 12 said Israel believes that such details could still derail the agreement. It also said that Hezbollah could violate the truce.
“In such cases, Israel would have to conduct military operations inside the Lebanese territory,” the channel reported, adding that “one of the unsettled issues is related to the committee that will oversee the implementation of the agreement between Israel and Lebanon.”
The sources said Tel Aviv “insists that France is not part of the agreement, nor part of the committee that will oversee its implementation.”