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.



Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

At least eight Palestinians, most of them children, were killed and more than a dozen were wounded in central Gaza when they went to collect water on Sunday, local officials said.

The Israeli military said the missile had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant in the area but that a malfunction had caused it to fall "dozens of meters from the target".

"The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians," it said in a statement, adding that the incident was under review.

The strike hit a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing six children and injuring 17 others, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al-Awda Hospital.

Water shortages in Gaza have worsened sharply in recent weeks, with fuel shortages causing desalination and sanitation facilities to close, making people dependent on collection centers where they can fill up their plastic containers.

Hours later, 12 people were killed by an Israeli strike on a market in Gaza City, including a prominent hospital consultant, Ahmad Qandil, Palestinian media reported. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack.

Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday that more than 58,000 people had been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, with 139 people added to the death toll over the past 24 hours.

Negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire appeared to be deadlocked, with the two sides divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources said at the weekend.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene ministers late on Sunday to discuss the latest developments in the talks, an Israeli official said.

The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire are being held in Doha, but optimism that surfaced last week of a looming deal has largely faded, with both sides accusing each other of intransigence.

Netanyahu in a video he posted on Telegram on Sunday said Israel would not back down from its core demands - releasing all the hostages still in Gaza, destroying Hamas and ensuring Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.