535 COVID-19 Cases Reported in Lebanon’s Prisons

Caretaker Minister of Information, Manal Abdel Samad holds joint press conference with caretaker Minister of Public Health, Hamad Hassan on Thursday. (NNA)
Caretaker Minister of Information, Manal Abdel Samad holds joint press conference with caretaker Minister of Public Health, Hamad Hassan on Thursday. (NNA)
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535 COVID-19 Cases Reported in Lebanon’s Prisons

Caretaker Minister of Information, Manal Abdel Samad holds joint press conference with caretaker Minister of Public Health, Hamad Hassan on Thursday. (NNA)
Caretaker Minister of Information, Manal Abdel Samad holds joint press conference with caretaker Minister of Public Health, Hamad Hassan on Thursday. (NNA)

Lebanon’s General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces announced Thursday that 535 coronavirus cases have been reported in the country’s largest prison, Roumieh, following tests on 1,706 inmates.

Lebanon has been struggling to contain the spread of the virus, reporting a daily rate of infections of 1,600 in the past two weeks. Earlier this week it announced a two-week nationwide lockdown to contain the outbreak.

The ISF explained that 67 positive cases were registered at the detention center at the Beirut Justice Palace. One patient is being treated at hospital and 464 have already recovered.

It said that infections were also reported in other prisons, including Batroun Prison in the north, where four cases were registered and 17 have recovered. The ISF said two cases were reported in the Zahle prison, saying they were in stable condition.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Public Health announced 1,874 new coronavirus infections and 12 more deaths across Lebanon in the past 24 hours.

During a press conference on Thursday, caretaker Minister of Public Health Hamad Hassan called on citizens to respect preventive measures, including wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.

Caretaker Information Minister Nada Abdel Samad announced that the situation is dangerous.

“Yesterday, we were coping with 96,900 cases, but today they have climbed to 99,000. In other words, for every 100 people, two are infected. For every 50, one may be infected and may spread the virus to two, three or more people,” she said.

Deaths are also on the rise, with an average of 11 being reported daily, she added. The health sector has also not been spared the virus, with 17 infections being reported among medical staff. Three have died from the virus and 250 are in isolation.



Israeli Strikes Kill 14 Palestinians in Gaza, Medical Officials Say

Displaced Palestinians walk near their tents, set up along the beach in the west of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 11 November 2024. (EPA)
Displaced Palestinians walk near their tents, set up along the beach in the west of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 11 November 2024. (EPA)
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Israeli Strikes Kill 14 Palestinians in Gaza, Medical Officials Say

Displaced Palestinians walk near their tents, set up along the beach in the west of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 11 November 2024. (EPA)
Displaced Palestinians walk near their tents, set up along the beach in the west of Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, 11 November 2024. (EPA)

Palestinian medical officials say two Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 14 people, including two children and a woman, most in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone.

One strike late Monday hit a makeshift cafeteria used by displaced people in Muwasi, the center of the so-called humanitarian zone. At least 11 people were killed, including two children, according to officials at Nasser Hospital, where the casualties were taken. Video from the scene showed men pulling bloodied wounded from among tables and chairs set up in the sand in an enclosure made of corrugated metal sheets.

The strike came hours after the Israeli military announced an expansion of the zone, where it has told Palestinians evacuating from other parts of Gaza to take refuge. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering in sprawling tent camps in and around Muwasi, a largely desolate area of dunes and agricultural fields with few facilities or services along the Mediterranean coast of southern Gaza.

Israel faces a deadline this week for the Biden administration’s ultimatum for it to allow more aid into Gaza or risk possible restrictions on US military funding.

Another strike early Tuesday hit a house in the urban Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing three people including a woman, according to al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties. The strike also wounded 11 others, it said.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on either strike.

Israel’s 19-month-old campaign in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities who don’t distinguish between civilians and fighters in their count, but say more than half the dead were women and children.

Israel says it targets Hamas fighters and blames the armed group for civilian deaths, saying it operates in residential areas and infrastructure and among displaced people.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led gunmen stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted about 250. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, about a third believed to be dead.