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Libya Logs Highest Daily Rise in Coronavirus Cases

Members of Red Crescent spray disinfectants, as part of precautionary measures against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at government offices in Misrata, Libya March 21, 2020. REUTERS/Ayman Al-Sahili
Members of Red Crescent spray disinfectants, as part of precautionary measures against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at government offices in Misrata, Libya March 21, 2020. REUTERS/Ayman Al-Sahili
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Libya Logs Highest Daily Rise in Coronavirus Cases

Members of Red Crescent spray disinfectants, as part of precautionary measures against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at government offices in Misrata, Libya March 21, 2020. REUTERS/Ayman Al-Sahili
Members of Red Crescent spray disinfectants, as part of precautionary measures against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at government offices in Misrata, Libya March 21, 2020. REUTERS/Ayman Al-Sahili

Throughout the past days, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Libya steadily increased as medical bodies warned of the pandemic possibly getting out of control. Libyan Health Minister Saad Agoub considered the epidemiological situation related to the COVID-19 pandemic to be absolutely unstable.

The Presidential Council of Libya announced that it would impose a full lockdown in the parts of the country that it controls following a spike in coronavirus cases. The five-day lockdown will begin on Friday, restricting all outside movement except to purchase necessary items.

Libya’s National Center for Disease Control said that the outbreaks were mostly centered in Tripoli with up to 80 cases out of the highest log of confirmed cases that is 205. Tripoli was followed by Misrata that recorded 61 cases.

Agoub called for the need to remain calm, and not give in to panic, “because most of the countries in the world dealt with this pandemic, and Libya is part of this world.”

He revealed that a total of 14,000 samples were taken to detect the virus in the area from Imsaed to Sirte, and Kufra. This resulted in 189 positive cases, including 73 active cases, and 12 deaths. 117 recoveries were also recorded, since the beginning of the pandemic in Libya, this March.

The minister noted that most of the cases appeared in Benghazi (92 cases), followed by Ajdabiya (24 cases) and then Bin Jawad, al-Bayda, al-Bayyar, Tobruk, Ahrawa, Kufra, and Sirte.

In this context, the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments (GAIAE) of the GNA decided to ban Eid al-Adha prayers at mosques and public squares, as COVID-19 cases spike. The GAIAE authority said that the decision was based on the recommendations of the Anti-Coronavirus Supreme Consultative Committee, which ratcheted up the worry that COVID-19 metrics are trending the wrong way.

"The failure to adhere to the precautionary guidelines, in addition to some customs and traditions that Libyans practice during Eid, including exchanging greetings by handshakes and hugs could increases the risk of transmission of the disease," the GAIAE stated.

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Hamas Names Four Israeli Female Soldier Hostages to Be Freed in Second Swap

Palestinians walk on the rubble of destroyed houses, after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk on the rubble of destroyed houses, after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP)
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Hamas Names Four Israeli Female Soldier Hostages to Be Freed in Second Swap

Palestinians walk on the rubble of destroyed houses, after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk on the rubble of destroyed houses, after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP)

Palestinian group Hamas announced the names on Friday of four Israeli women soldier hostages to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in the second swap under the ceasefire deal in Gaza.

Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag would be released on Saturday, the group said.

The exchange, expected to begin on Saturday afternoon, follows the release on the ceasefire's first day last Sunday of three Israeli women and 90 Palestinian prisoners, the first such exchange for more than a year.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed that the list had been received from the mediators. Israel's response would be presented later, it said in a statement.

Israeli media reported that the list of hostages slated for release was not in line with the original agreement, but it was not immediately clear whether this would have any impact on the planned exchange.

In the six-week first phase of the Gaza ceasefire, Israel has agreed to release 50 Palestinian prisoners for every female soldier released, officials have said. That suggests that 200 Palestinian prisoners would be released in return for the four.

The Hamas prisoners media office said it expected to get the names of 200 Palestinians to be freed on Saturday in the coming hours. It said the list was expected to include 120 prisoners serving life sentences and 80 prisoners with other lengthy sentences.

Since the release of the first three women on Sunday and the recovery of the body of an Israeli soldier missing for a decade, Israel says 94 Israelis and foreigners remain held in Gaza.

The ceasefire agreement, worked out after months of on-off negotiations brokered by Qatar and Egypt and backed by the United States, halted the fighting for the first time since a truce that lasted just a week in Nov. 2023.

In the first phase, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

In a subsequent phase, the two sides would negotiate the exchange of the remaining hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, which lies largely in ruins after 15 months of fighting and Israeli bombardment.

Israel launched the war following the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, when fighters killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to health authorities there.

The release of the first three hostages last week brought an emotional response from Israelis. But the phased release has drawn protests from some Israelis who fear the deal will break down after women, children, elderly and ill hostages are freed in the first phase, condemning male hostages of military age whose fate is not to be resolved until later.

Others, including some in the government, feel the deal hands a victory to Hamas, which has reasserted its presence in Gaza despite vows of Israeli leaders to destroy it. Hardliners, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have demanded that Israel resume fighting at the end of the first phase.

Most of Hamas' top leadership and thousands of its fighters have been killed but the group's police have returned to the streets since the ceasefire.