Moroccan Interior Minister: We Have to Live with Pandemic for Longer Period

Morocco’s Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit
Morocco’s Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit
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Moroccan Interior Minister: We Have to Live with Pandemic for Longer Period

Morocco’s Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit
Morocco’s Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit

Morocco’s Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit said the number of people pursued and arrested in line with the health emergency imposed by the authorities has amounted to 81,000, an average of 2,000 person per day.

“This is not a large number compared with other countries,” he said during a meeting held by a parliamentary committee on Wednesday.

He ruled out things returning to normal soon, noting that people shall live with the pandemic for a longer period of time.

MPs expressed concern over the rising number of arrests, yet the Minister explained that they are aimed at forcing people to stay at home.

Laftit said the mobile application that enables security men at observation points to control and track the movement of citizens is only temporarily used by the General Directorate of National Security.

Refuting certain reports, he stressed this application is 100 percent Moroccan and supervised by Moroccan figures.

The application “won’t store information,” he affirmed, adding that it was used after receiving approval from the National Control Commission for the Protection of Personal Data (CNDP) and will not be exploited for other purposes.

On the gradual relaxation of the lockdown, Laftit said the government is preparing several possible scenarios and measures that will be announced on time depending on how the pandemic is curbed.

Each country has taken different measures in fighting the coronavirus, which confirms that the world was not ready for this pandemic, the Minister said.

“Most important is to spare our country more victims and economic losses,” he added.

Regarding Moroccans who were stranded in the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, the Minister said “measures will be taken to ensure their return.”

He urged people to have confidence in the measures taken by the state to fight the pandemic.



Israeli American Soldier Thought to Have Been Taken Hostage in Gaza Is Presumed Dead

Israeli soldiers play football near tanks and armored personnel carrier (APC), amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza border, in Israel, June 2, 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli soldiers play football near tanks and armored personnel carrier (APC), amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza border, in Israel, June 2, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli American Soldier Thought to Have Been Taken Hostage in Gaza Is Presumed Dead

Israeli soldiers play football near tanks and armored personnel carrier (APC), amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza border, in Israel, June 2, 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli soldiers play football near tanks and armored personnel carrier (APC), amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza border, in Israel, June 2, 2024. (Reuters)

The Israeli military said Monday an Israeli American soldier who was believed to have been taken hostage alive on Oct. 7, 2023, is now presumed to have been killed during Hamas’ attack and his body taken into Gaza.

Neutra, 21, was a New York native who enlisted in the Israeli military and was captured when Hamas attacked southern Israel.

Neutra’s parents, Ronen and Orna, led a public campaign while he was thought to be alive for their son’s freedom. They spoke at protests in the US and Israel, addressed the Republican National Convention this year and kept up ties with the Biden administration in their crusade to secure their son’s release.

In a statement announcing the death, the military did not say how it came to the conclusion over Neutra’s fate.

He was one of seven American Israelis still held in Gaza, four of whom are now said to be dead. Hamas released a video of one, Edan Alexander, over the weekend, indicating he was still alive.

In late summer, Hamas killed Hersh Goldberg-Polin, another prominent Israeli American hostage, along with five other captives, whose bodies the Israeli military recovered.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led fighters stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Some 100 captives are still held inside Gaza, around two-thirds believed to be alive.