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Karoui’s Arrest Threatens Coalition Supporting Tunisian Govt

Nabil Karoui (AP)
Nabil Karoui (AP)
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Karoui’s Arrest Threatens Coalition Supporting Tunisian Govt

Nabil Karoui (AP)
Nabil Karoui (AP)

The arrest of the leader of the Heart of Tunisia party has raised many questions on the extent to which Hichem Mechichi’s government will last.

This comes in light of concerns from the dissociation of the tripartite parliamentary front, which consists of Ennahda, Heart of Tunisia, and al-Karama coalition.

Nabil Karoui, Ennahda Movement’s main ally, was rearrested on Thursday over money laundering and tax evasion.

Opposition parties said on Friday that the front’s loss of Heart of Tunisia will definitely affect Mechichi’s government, and thus the fate of Ennahda’s Head and Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi.

Several observers of Tunisia’s political affairs have wondered about the timing of Karoui’s arrest, which came only one day after President Kais Saied received the former secretary-general of the Democratic Current, Mohamed Abbou.

Abbou is one of the most political figures that faced corruption and based their political rhetoric during the latest parliamentary and presidential elections on this matter.

Ennahda and its leader have been facing the opposition democratic bloc (38 deputies).

The bloc consists of Abbou’s Democratic Current, and Zuhair al-Maghzawi,’s People's Movement party, which announced a sit-in at the parliament headquarters two weeks ago demanding Ghannouchi to issue a statement condemning violence and hate rhetoric in parliament.

Head of Tunisia’s opposition Free Destourian Party Abir Moussa (17 deputies) has been leading a revolution to defeat the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

She accused Ennahda of serving as a cover for extremism and not fighting against violence.

Meanwhile, Saied decided to extend the state of emergency throughout Tunisia starting Saturday until June 23, 2021.

His decision came a few days after Abbou called for army deployment to control the growing popular protests.

Heart of Tunisia’s political bureau called on the party’s parliamentary bloc and all its members to remain calm and sober, continue their mission, assume the responsibility entrusted to them by voters, work to complete the party’s program, abide by its pledges and respect the state institutions, the republican system, and the constitution.

It, however, accused some political parties of resorting to judicial prosecutions against party leaders instead of political competition based on programs and ideas during this electoral period.

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Red Cross Urges Unhindered Aid Access to Flood-hit and Freezing Gaza

Paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society protest over the deaths of their colleagues in the war between Israel and Hamas on February 11, 2024. Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images
Paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society protest over the deaths of their colleagues in the war between Israel and Hamas on February 11, 2024. Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images
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Red Cross Urges Unhindered Aid Access to Flood-hit and Freezing Gaza

Paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society protest over the deaths of their colleagues in the war between Israel and Hamas on February 11, 2024. Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images
Paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society protest over the deaths of their colleagues in the war between Israel and Hamas on February 11, 2024. Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images

The Red Cross called Wednesday for safe and unhindered access to Gaza to bring desperately needed aid into the war-torn Palestinian territory wracked by hunger and where babies are freezing to death.

Heavy rain and flooding have ravaged the makeshift shelters in Gaza, leaving thousands with up to 30 centimetres (one foot) of water inside their damaged tents, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

The dire weather conditions were "exacerbating the unbearable conditions" in Gaza, it said, pointing out that many families were left "clinging on to survival in makeshift camps, without even the most basic necessities, such as blankets".

Citing the United Nations, the IFRC highlighted the deaths of eight newborn babies who had been living in tents without warmth or protection from the rain and falling temperatures, AFP reported.

Those deaths "underscore the critical severity of the humanitarian crisis there", IFRC Secretary-General Jagan Chapagain said in a statement.

"I urgently reiterate my call to grant safe and unhindered access to humanitarians to let them provide life-saving assistance," he said.

"Without safe access -- children will freeze to death. Without safe access -- families will starve. Without safe access -- humanitarian workers can't save lives."

According to a UN count, more than 330 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza since Israel unleashed its war there.

Chapagain issued an "urgent plea to all the parties... to put an end to this human suffering. Now".

The IFRC said the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) was striving to provide emergency health services and supplies to people in Gaza, with an extra sense of urgency during the cold winter months.

But it warned that "the lack of aid deliveries and access is making providing adequate support all but impossible".

The IFRC stressed that the closure of the main Rafah border crossing last May had had a dramatic impact on the humanitarian situation.

"Only a trickle of aid is currently entering Gaza," it warned.

It also lamented the "continuing attacks on health facilities across the Gaza Strip", which it said meant people were unable to access the treatment they need.

"In the north of Gaza, there are now no functioning hospitals," it said.

The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity warned that access to healthcare had also become "seriously compromised" in parts of the West Bank. It was seeing "a dramatic decline in children's mental health", it added.

It pointed in a statement to the drastic increase in restrictions imposed by Israeli forces since the start of the war in Gaza. In particular, it highlighted the situation in the Jaber neighbourhood inside the H2 area of Hebron City, which is under full Israeli military control.

MSF, which said it had been forced to suspend its operations for five months from December 2023, urged Israeli forces to "stop implementing restrictive measures that impede the ability of Palestinians to access basic services, including medical care".

MSF project coordinator Chloe Janssen warned that "although we are now able to provide care in the MSF clinic in Jaber neighbourhood, access remains challenging as our staff can be searched and delayed at the checkpoints to enter the H2 area.

"Access to medical care should never be arbitrarily denied, impeded or blocked."