Egypt Warns of Third COVID-19 Wave

 Workers sterilizing al-Sayyida Nafisa mosque in Cairo (DPA)
Workers sterilizing al-Sayyida Nafisa mosque in Cairo (DPA)
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Egypt Warns of Third COVID-19 Wave

 Workers sterilizing al-Sayyida Nafisa mosque in Cairo (DPA)
Workers sterilizing al-Sayyida Nafisa mosque in Cairo (DPA)

An Egyptian health official said the country is preparing for a third COVID-19 wave, citing a surge in virus infections.

Presidential Adviser for Health Affairs Mohamed Awad Tageldin revealed that it is highly probable for Egypt to enter the third wave, stressing the importance of receiving the vaccine to curb the spread of the virus.

In a statement on Saturday, Tageldin affirmed that the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines are “minor.”

He also said that it is not possible to determine if Egypt will start reporting a decline in infections before figures become stable.

The Health Ministry recorded on Friday 794 new cases and 39 deaths, raising the infection tally in the country to 208,876, including 158,454 recoveries and 12,362 deaths.

Meanwhile, the cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) said Egypt ranked 68 out of 215 world countries in terms of the number of people infected with the virus. It also ranked seventh in the rate of deaths among the people infected and 178 in the rate of recoveries.



Israel Seals off the Occupied West Bank

Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
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Israel Seals off the Occupied West Bank

Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)

Israel closed all checkpoints to the Israeli-occupied West Bank Friday as the country attacked Iran, a military official said Friday.

The move sealed off entry and exit to the territory, meaning that Palestinians could not leave without special coordination.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military recommendations.

Around 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank under Israeli military rule.

With the world’s attention focused on Gaza, Israeli military operations in the West Bank have grown in size, frequency and intensity.

The crackdown has also left tens of thousands unemployed, as they can no longer work the mostly menial jobs in Israel that paid higher wages.

Israel launched a wave of strikes across Iran on Friday that targeted its nuclear program and military sites, killing at least two top military officers and raising the prospect of an all-out war between the two bitter adversaries. It appeared to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since its 1980s war with Iraq.

The strikes came amid simmering tensions over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program and appeared certain to trigger a reprisal. In its first response, Iran fired more than 100 drones at Israel. Israel said the drones were being intercepted outside its airspace, and it was not immediately clear whether any got through.

Israeli leaders cast the attack as necessary to head off an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs, though it remains unclear how close the country is to achieving that.