Tunisia: Ennahda Accuses Parties of Spreading Lies about Ghannouchi’s Health

Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi in his office, in Tunis (file photo: Reuters)
Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi in his office, in Tunis (file photo: Reuters)
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Tunisia: Ennahda Accuses Parties of Spreading Lies about Ghannouchi’s Health

Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi in his office, in Tunis (file photo: Reuters)
Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi in his office, in Tunis (file photo: Reuters)

Head of Ennahda Movement and Speaker Rached Ghannouchi has been reportedly transferred to the military hospital in Tunis after his health deteriorated.

However, Ennahda denied the rumors, asserting Ghannouchi, 79, is fine and carrying out his constitutional duties.

MP Maher Medhioub, the Speaker's aide, affirmed that Ghannouchi is "in good health and practicing his duties," stressing that media reports about any change in the speakership is untrue.

Mohammed Goumani, member of Ennahda's executive office, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the rumors about Ghannouchi's health fall within the recurring attempts by “parties and figures who lack credibility" to confuse the public.

These accusations come in the wake of a petition led by opposition MP Mongi Rahoui to withdraw confidence from Ghannouchi.

Rahoui asserted that the petition now has over 104 signatories, which means that only five more are required to reach the majority to remove Ghannouchi from his post.

The MP, who is also a member of the politburo of Democratic Patriots' Unified Party, renewed his call to the Public Prosecution to take action against threats and the defamation campaign launched against him.

He believes that a number of Ennahda members and lawmakers are behind the threats after he demanded an investigation into the wealth of some of the movement's leaders.

He explained that this falls under "illicit enrichment" and requires the intervention of the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

The lawmaker indicated that the defamation campaigns targeting him were launched on social media pages supported by Ennahda.



Residents Leave Homes in Jenin as Israeli Raid Continues

Israeli army vehicles on a damaged road as Palestinians (rear) leave Jenin refugee camp on the third day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 23 January 2025. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli army vehicles on a damaged road as Palestinians (rear) leave Jenin refugee camp on the third day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 23 January 2025. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
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Residents Leave Homes in Jenin as Israeli Raid Continues

Israeli army vehicles on a damaged road as Palestinians (rear) leave Jenin refugee camp on the third day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 23 January 2025. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli army vehicles on a damaged road as Palestinians (rear) leave Jenin refugee camp on the third day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 23 January 2025. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH

Israeli drones fitted with loudspeakers ordered people to leave their homes in Jenin on Thursday, residents said, as the military demolished a number of houses on the third day of a major operation in the West Bank city.
The operation, involving large columns of vehicles backed by helicopters and drones, was launched in the first week of a ceasefire in Gaza that saw the first exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails since a brief truce in November 2023.
Israeli officials said the Jenin operation was aimed at what the military said were Iranian-backed militant groups in the refugee camp adjacent to the city, a major hub for armed Palestinian groups for years.
"We need to be prepared to continue in the Jenin camp that will bring it to a different place," Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, the head of the Israeli military, said in a statement.
Armored bulldozers have dug up roads and hundreds of people left their homes in the camp, after residents said they were ordered to evacuate, Reuters reported.
"Yesterday, we did not want to leave, we were at home," said 16-year-old Hussam Saadi. "Today, they sent down a drone to our neighborhood, telling us to leave the camp and that they will blow it up."
The Israeli military did not immediately comment.
Overnight on Wednesday, Israeli troops killed two armed men barricaded inside a building in Burqin, outside Jenin, after a gunfight. The two were suspected of carrying out an attack near the Palestinian village of al-Funduq earlier this month, in which three Israelis were killed.
Both were claimed by the armed wing of Hamas, which has a strong presence in the refugee camp, a crowded township for descendants of Palestinians who fled, or were forced, from their homes in the 1948 Middle East war.
Overall since the start of the operation, 12 Palestinians have been killed and 40 more wounded, Palestinian health officials said.
The raid, the third major operation by the Israeli military in Jenin in under two years, drew warnings from France and Jordan against an escalation in the West Bank, which has seen a surge in violence since the start of the war in Gaza.