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Gaza Strip Sees Spike in COVID-19 Cases

A view shows an almost empty street during a lockdown after Gaza reported its first cases of the coronavirus disease in Gaza City August 25, 2020. Reuters
A view shows an almost empty street during a lockdown after Gaza reported its first cases of the coronavirus disease in Gaza City August 25, 2020. Reuters
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Gaza Strip Sees Spike in COVID-19 Cases

A view shows an almost empty street during a lockdown after Gaza reported its first cases of the coronavirus disease in Gaza City August 25, 2020. Reuters
A view shows an almost empty street during a lockdown after Gaza reported its first cases of the coronavirus disease in Gaza City August 25, 2020. Reuters

Gaza's health ministry said Wednesday that more than a thousand cases of coronavirus were recorded over the previous day, the highest daily infection toll in several months.

The spike in the coastal Palestinian enclave, controlled by Hamas since 2007, stands in contrast to the slowdown in infections in Israel, which maintains a tight blockade on Gaza.

"The epidemiological situation in the Gaza Strip is dangerous," said Magdy Dahir, deputy director of primary care at the Gaza health ministry. "There is a clear increase in hospitalizations."

In Gaza, 65,500 people have been infected with Covid-19 and 610 deaths recorded since the start of the pandemic.

The Hamas-run government, which imposed a 9:00 pm (1800 GMT) curfew on Saturday to curb transmission, has ordered new restrictions on gatherings beginning Wednesday, the Gaza Hotels and Restaurants Association said.

But in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian Authority health minister Mai Al-Kaila told the official Voice of Palestine radio that the rate of increase was slowing, after a wave of infections packed local hospitals.

In the West Bank, more than 175,000 people have been infected and 2,004 deaths have been recorded, AFP reported.

The Palestinian health ministry announced that, as of Monday morning, more than 69,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza had received one vaccine jab.

By contrast, more than half of Israel's roughly 9.3 million residents have been inoculated with two Pfizer-BioNTech shots.

The latest daily increase in Israel was 442 cases, down from thousands of daily cases earlier in March.

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Widespread Protests in Southern Iraq over Arrest of Activists

Crowds of protesters in central Nasiriyah demanding the dismissal of the police chief (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Crowds of protesters in central Nasiriyah demanding the dismissal of the police chief (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Widespread Protests in Southern Iraq over Arrest of Activists

Crowds of protesters in central Nasiriyah demanding the dismissal of the police chief (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Crowds of protesters in central Nasiriyah demanding the dismissal of the police chief (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The city of Nasiriyah, the center of Dhi Qar province in southern Iraq, has recently witnessed large-scale protests, peaking on Friday night. The number of demonstrators is expected to rise following calls from activists to escalate against the local authorities.

Protesters are calling for the dismissal of the city’s police chief and the release of detainees, according to activists. The unrest was triggered by the new police chief, Major General Najah Al-Abadi, who launched widespread arrests of wanted individuals over the past two weeks.

Political sources in Baghdad are expressing concern over the severity of the situation in Nasiriyah, fearing that unrest could spread to other provinces, especially amid the sensitive conditions in the region due to the ongoing Israeli war.

Local and security authorities in the province have justified the arrests, claiming they were carried out under judicial warrants for suspects. However, protest groups accuse the new police chief, who hails from Najaf and is close to the Badr Organization led by Hadi Al-Amiri, of targeting activists from the protest movement that erupted in Oct. 2019. Nasiriyah was a key stronghold of that movement, which lasted for over a year.

According to civil organizations, around 180 protesters were killed and over 5,000 were injured in Dhi Qar during the 2019 Tishreen Protests. On Friday, security forces stormed the protest site in Al-Habboubi Square, leading to injuries among both protesters and police. Police reported that three officers and 19 police members were injured, while activists claim many protesters were also hurt. However, many of them avoided hospitals, fearing arrest or legal repercussions.

The Iraqi Ministry of Interior has emphasized the need to protect demonstrators in Dhi Qar but rejected what it called “unacceptable methods” of protest. Ministry spokesperson Brigadier General Muqdad Miri stated during a Saturday press conference that the ministry “will not allow tire burnings, road blockages, or attacks on public property,” stressing that the authority of the state and the law “will prevail in Dhi Qar.”

Miri also disclosed that security forces had arrested 578 individuals, most of whom, he claimed, were not protesters.

Activists and protest groups present a different narrative, accusing “influential political parties” of being behind the recent escalation in Nasiriyah. Three activists told Asharq Al-Awsat that these parties had pushed government agencies to target those wanted by law, conflating criminal suspects with individuals involved in protests. One activist pointed out that the timing of the arrest campaign, coinciding with the seventh anniversary of the Tishreen Movement, underscores the political motives behind it.