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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)
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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.

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US Says It’s Aware of Palestinian American Teen’s Killing by Israeli Forces in West Bank 

Mourners carry the body of 14-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Mohammad Rabea, during his funeral at Turmus Ayya village near Ramallah , 07 April 2025. (EPA)
Mourners carry the body of 14-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Mohammad Rabea, during his funeral at Turmus Ayya village near Ramallah , 07 April 2025. (EPA)
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US Says It’s Aware of Palestinian American Teen’s Killing by Israeli Forces in West Bank 

Mourners carry the body of 14-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Mohammad Rabea, during his funeral at Turmus Ayya village near Ramallah , 07 April 2025. (EPA)
Mourners carry the body of 14-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Mohammad Rabea, during his funeral at Turmus Ayya village near Ramallah , 07 April 2025. (EPA)

The US State Department said on Tuesday it was aware of the killing by Israeli forces of a Palestinian American teenager in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and was seeking more information about the incident.

A State Department spokesperson made the comments to reporters when asked about the killing of US citizen Omar Mohammad Rabea, 14, and the shooting of two other teenagers.

"We are certainly aware of that dynamic," the State Department spokesperson said. "There is an investigation that is going on. We are aware of the reports from the Israeli army that this was a counterterrorism act, we need to learn more about the nature of what happened on the ground."

The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the weekend incident as an "extra-judicial killing" by Israeli forces during a raid. A local mayor said Rabea was shot along with two other teenagers by an Israeli settler and that the Israeli army pronounced him dead after detaining him.

The Israeli military said it shot a "terrorist" who endangered civilians by hurling rocks.

"We don't have the complete picture of what was going on the ground," the State Department spokesperson added.

The family of the teenager, who was a New Jersey native, said he was shot multiple times. Local community leaders gathered at the Palestinian American Community Center in Clifton, New Jersey, on Tuesday to pay tribute to him and demand justice.

Israel has expanded and consolidated settlements in the occupied West Bank as part of the steady integration of these territories into the state of Israel in breach of international law, the UN human rights office said last month.

Settler violence in the West Bank, including incursions into occupied territory and raids, has intensified since the start of Israel's war in Gaza that has killed over 50,000, according to Gaza's health ministry, and led to genocide and war crimes accusations that Israel denies.

The Israeli onslaught in Gaza followed a Hamas attack in October 2023 in which 1,200 were killed and about 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.