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Iraq Seizes Shipment of Illegal Drugs to Treat COVID-19 Patients

A lab technician holds the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment drug "Remdesivir" - REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
A lab technician holds the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment drug "Remdesivir" - REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
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Iraq Seizes Shipment of Illegal Drugs to Treat COVID-19 Patients

A lab technician holds the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment drug "Remdesivir" - REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
A lab technician holds the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment drug "Remdesivir" - REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo

The Federal Commission of Integrity announced Wednesday that it has thwarted an attempt to enter an illegal shipment of medicines to treat coronavirus patients at Basra International Airport.

The Commission’s Investigation Department said in a statement reported by the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that “the cadres of the Basra Investigation Department managed to seize a shipment of medicines belonging to a private company at the city's international airport.”

“The medicines that were seized and intended to treat coronavirus patients are type (Remidsiver) Bangladeshi origin consisting of seven boxes containing approximately 2500 ampule,” the statement read.

The Department further added that the drugs seized have no certificate of origin or import license. They haven’t obtained the approval of the Ministry of Health either.

“There are attempts and pressures to smuggle them and bring them into the country without organizing a customs transaction,” the statement added.

It clarified that a report was presented to the judge of the Investigation Court specialized in integrity issues in Basra to take appropriate legal measures in this regard.

Iraq's Ministry of Health on Wednesday reported 4,718 new COVID-19 cases, raising the nationwide caseload to 1,181,698.

The ministry also confirmed 26 new deaths, bringing the death toll to 16,267, while the total number of recoveries in Iraq reached 1,094,140.

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Israeli Forces Order New Evacuation at Besieged Northern Gaza Town

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on Al-Wafaa hospital, according to the Palestinian civil defense, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, December 29, 2024. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on Al-Wafaa hospital, according to the Palestinian civil defense, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, December 29, 2024. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
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Israeli Forces Order New Evacuation at Besieged Northern Gaza Town

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on Al-Wafaa hospital, according to the Palestinian civil defense, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, December 29, 2024. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on Al-Wafaa hospital, according to the Palestinian civil defense, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, December 29, 2024. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Israeli forces carrying out a weeks-long offensive in northern Gaza ordered any residents remaining in Beit Hanoun to quit the town on Sunday, pointing to Palestinian militant rocket fire from the area, residents said.
The instruction to residents to leave caused a new wave of displacement, although it was not immediately clear how many people were affected, the residents told Reuters.
Israel says its almost three-month-old campaign in northern Gaza is aimed at Hamas militants and preventing them from regrouping. Its instructions to civilians to evacuate are meant to keep them out of harm's way, the military says.
Palestinian and United Nations officials say no place is safe in Gaza and that evacuations worsen humanitarian conditions of the population.
Much of the area around the northern towns of Beit Hanoun, Jabalia and Beit Lahiya has been cleared of people and razed, fueling speculation that Israel intends to keep the area as a closed buffer zone after the fighting in Gaza ends.
The Israeli military announced its new push into the Beit Hanoun area on Saturday.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said it had lost communication with people still trapped in the town, and it was unable to send teams into the area because of the raid.
On Friday, Israeli forces stormed the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza. The military said it was being used by militants, which Hamas denies.
The raid on the hospital, one of three medical facilities on the northern edge of Gaza, put the last major health facility in the area out of service, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a post on X.
Some patients were evacuated from Kamal Adwan to the Indonesian Hospital, which is not in service, and medics were prevented from joining them there, the Health Ministry said. Other patients and staff were taken to other medical facilities.
On Sunday, health officials said an Israeli tank shell hit the upper floor of the Al-Ahly Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City near the X-ray division.
Meanwhile, Palestinian health officials said Israeli military strikes across the enclave killed at least 16 people on Sunday. One of those strikes killed seven people and wounded others at Al-WAFA Hospital in Gaza City, the Palestinian civil emergency service said in a statement.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.
Israel's campaign against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 45,300 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.