Morocco’s King Sets Post-Pandemic Economic, Social Priorities

Morocco's King Mohammed VI arrives for a lunch at the Elysee Palace as part of the One Planet Summit in Paris, France, December 12, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer
Morocco's King Mohammed VI arrives for a lunch at the Elysee Palace as part of the One Planet Summit in Paris, France, December 12, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer
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Morocco’s King Sets Post-Pandemic Economic, Social Priorities

Morocco's King Mohammed VI arrives for a lunch at the Elysee Palace as part of the One Planet Summit in Paris, France, December 12, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer
Morocco's King Mohammed VI arrives for a lunch at the Elysee Palace as part of the One Planet Summit in Paris, France, December 12, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has urged the government and economic and social actors to rearrange priories and to lay foundations for a strong and competitive economy for the post-COVID-19 recovery.

He also stressed Thursday the significance of launching an ambitious plan to revive the economy in a way that enables productive sectors to recover.

In his speech on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of his accession to the throne, he announced that “some MAD120 billion (USD12 billion) will be injected into the national economy, representing 11 percent of our GDP – a proportion that will place Morocco at the forefront of the most enterprising countries in terms of post-crisis stimulus packages.

“I have also decided that a strategic investment fund should be set up to stimulate productive activities and support major public-private investment projects in various sectors.”

He added: “To ensure the success of this plan, I call on the government and on economic and social actors to be effectively engaged in this endeavor.”

Further, King Mohammed VI stated that “similarly, a sweeping reform of the civil service should be expedited, and the structural deficiencies of public institutions and state enterprises should be addressed to achieve optimal integration and increase these institutions’ economic and social effectiveness.

“To this end, I call for the creation of a national agency to be tasked with ensuring the strategic management of state contributions and assessing the performance of public institutions.”

On the coronavirus pandemic, Morocco’s King said: “I want you to know that I care as much about the Moroccan citizens’ health and the safety of their family members as I do about my own children and my smaller family – even more so in the difficult times Morocco and the world are going through today as a result of the COVID -19 pandemic.”

He saluted the spirit of solidarity and responsibility shown by citizens. He also hailed “the sense of discipline, the level of awareness and the responsiveness shown by the citizens and by all the nation’s forces during this past period.”

Addressing citizens, he said: “I am aware of the magnitude of the adverse effects this crisis has had, not just on public health, but also at social and economic levels. It has affected all the productive sectors. Family incomes and the state budget have also been severely impacted. I am heartened to see that this initiative has been spontaneously embraced and that it continues to be actively supported.”

Furthermore, he declared that an amount of MAD5 billion (more than USD500 million) will be allocated to the Central Guarantee Fund to boost the economy.

“Our action is not limited to simply facing up to the current epidemic. We also aim to address its social and economic effects by building on a comprehensive, future-oriented approach and by drawing lessons from this experience.

“Even though this crisis has shown that social bonds in our country are solid and that solidarity between Moroccans is a fact of life, it has also revealed a number of shortcomings, especially in the social field,” he added.

King Mohammed VI went on saying, “This project needs to be implemented gradually, as of January 2021, using a well-thought-out plan, starting with compulsory health coverage and family allowances, then moving on to pension and unemployment benefits.

“Such a plan requires tangible reform of current social protection systems and programs in order to increase their direct impact on beneficiaries, especially through the rolling-out of the national social register.”

He added that it was time to launch a decisive process for the expansion of social welfare coverage to all Moroccans within the next five years.



Israel’s Operations in Gaza Expands to Seize ‘Large Areas,’ Dozens of Palestinians Killed

Buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations stand in northern of Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP)
Buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations stand in northern of Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP)
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Israel’s Operations in Gaza Expands to Seize ‘Large Areas,’ Dozens of Palestinians Killed

Buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations stand in northern of Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP)
Buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations stand in northern of Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP)

Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip is expanding to seize "large areas," the defense minister said, while officials at hospitals inside the Palestinian territory said that Israeli strikes overnight and into Wednesday had killed more than 40 people, nearly a dozen of them children.

Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory was "expanding to crush and clean the area" of militants and "seizing large areas that will be added to the security zones of the State of Israel," Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a written statement.

The Israeli government has long maintained a buffer zone just inside Gaza along its security fence and has greatly expanded since the war began in 2023. Israel says the buffer zone is needed for its security, while Palestinians view it as a land grab that further shrinks the narrow coastal territory, home to around 2 million people.

Katz didn't specify which areas of Gaza would be seized in the expanded operation, which he said includes the "extensive evacuation" of the population from fighting areas. His statement came after Israel ordered the full evacuation of the southern city of Rafah and nearby areas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel aims to maintain an open-ended but unspecified security control of the Gaza Strip once it achieves its aim of crushing Hamas.

The minister called on Gaza residents to "expel Hamas and return all hostages." The group still holds 59 captives, of whom 24 are believed to still be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

"This is the only way to end the war," Katz said.

Since the breakdown of the ceasefire last month, when Israel ordered people to move and expanded their areas of operation, the "no-go" zones in Gaza now constitute more than 60% of the strip, said Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Aid groups are providing assistance as the situation allows, as supplies dwindled because of Israel’s monthlong blockade on Gaza. "No-go" zones include the military zone in the Netzarim corridor — a zone carved out by Israel separating northern from southern Gaza — and the expanded buffer zone and evacuation areas.

The Hostage Families Forum, which represents most captives’ families, said that it was "horrified to wake up this morning to the Defense Minister's announcement about expanding military operations in Gaza."

The group said the Israeli government "has an obligation to free all 59 hostages from Hamas captivity — to pursue every possible channel to advance a deal for their release." They stressed that every passing day puts their loved ones' lives at greater risk.

"Our highest priority must be an immediate deal to bring ALL hostages back home — the living for rehabilitation and those killed for proper burial — and end this war," the group said.

Children killed in strike on UN building  

Israel continued to target the Gaza Strip, with airstrikes overnight killing 17 people in the southern city of Khan Younis. Another 15 people were killed in a strike in the north of the strip Wednesday, according to officials at hospitals where the bodies were taken.

Officials at the Nasser Hospital said the bodies of 12 people killed in an overnight airstrike that were brought to the hospital included five women, one of them pregnant, and two children. Officials at the Gaza European Hospital said they received five bodies of people killed in two separate airstrikes.

Later Wednesday, officials at the Indonesian Hospital said an Israeli strike on a building of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip killed 15 people, including nine children and two women.

The Palestinian Civil Defense said the building had been an UNRWA clinic that was now being used to house displaced people. It said the attack hit two rooms in the building, and that it evacuated the bodies of seven of those killed as well as 12 people who were wounded.

Juliette Touma, a spokeswoman for UNRWA, said the site wasn't functioning as a clinic when it was hit, but was being used as a shelter for displaced people, with about 735 people from 160 families staying there.

Despite UNRWA staff warning of the dangers of the facility after the Wednesday’s attack, many displaced families haven't left the site, "simply because they have absolutely nowhere else to go," Touma said, adding that no UNRWA staff were killed or wounded in the strike.

The Israeli military said it struck Hamas members in the area, adding that they were hiding inside "a command and control center that was being used for coordinating" armed activity and served as a central meeting point for the Palestinian group.

Separately, the European Hospital said that it had received the bodies of eight people killed in Khan Younis during the day Wednesday, while another three killed in Zawaida in central Gaza arrived at the Aqsa hospital, officials there said.

The war began when Hamas-led gunmen attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, including hundreds killed in strikes since a ceasefire ended about two weeks ago, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say whether those killed are civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 fighters, without providing evidence.