Tunisian Party Calls on President, Political Leaders to Step Down

Tunisian President Kais Saied. (AP)
Tunisian President Kais Saied. (AP)
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Tunisian Party Calls on President, Political Leaders to Step Down

Tunisian President Kais Saied. (AP)
Tunisian President Kais Saied. (AP)

Tunisia’s Al Chaab Yourid party, led by Najd al-Khalfaoui, called on President Kais Saied and various political leaders to resign and admit their failure to find a solution for the political impasse in the country.

In a statement, the party called on General Mohamed Salah al-Hamdi, who resigned from his position as presidential national security adviser, to run for the next presidential elections, scheduled for 2024.

However, the party criticized Hamdi’s neutral position in face of the imminent danger threatening the state.

It also condemned a number of retired military figures harboring political aspirations, who had submitted a message to the president, entitled “The Last Hope to Save the Country.”

The letter sparked widespread political debate about the possible involvement of the military in politics, after years of impartiality.

Khalfaoui said Tunisians “have observed the political rivalries within the illegitimate parliament after a report on the legislative and presidential elections revealed fundamental violations that affect the integrity and transparency of the electoral process.”

He called on all political parties, including the president, to allow the people to decide their future through early legislative and presidential elections, adding, however, that the electoral law must also be amended.

The party reminded the president of his pledge to the youth during his electoral campaign, “to return to its rightful owners” in the event of his failure to achieve their will and demands.

Al Chaab Yourid party was officially established last March and was accused of being close to the president because it has adopted a slogan similar to his campaign slogan.

However, Khalfaoui asserted that some presidential advisors were part of the party's founding council before their withdrawal, which means they have ended their affiliation with the presidency.



WHO Says Gaza Health Care at Breaking Point as Fuel Runs Out

In this file photo, Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital who has since been detained, supervises the treatment of a Palestinian man injured in an Israeli strike - AFP
In this file photo, Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital who has since been detained, supervises the treatment of a Palestinian man injured in an Israeli strike - AFP
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WHO Says Gaza Health Care at Breaking Point as Fuel Runs Out

In this file photo, Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital who has since been detained, supervises the treatment of a Palestinian man injured in an Israeli strike - AFP
In this file photo, Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital who has since been detained, supervises the treatment of a Palestinian man injured in an Israeli strike - AFP

The World Health Organization on Tuesday pleaded for fuel to be allowed into Gaza to keep its remaining hospitals running, warning the Palestinian territory's health system was at "breaking point".

"For over 100 days, no fuel has entered Gaza and attempts to retrieve stocks from evacuation zones have been denied," said Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO's representative in the Palestinian territories, AFP reported.

"Combined with critical supply shortages, this is pushing the health system closer to the brink of collapse."

Peeperkorn said only 17 of Gaza's 36 hospitals were currently minimally to partially functional. They have a total of around 1,500 beds -- around 45 percent fewer than before the conflict began.

He said all hospitals and primary health centres in north Gaza were currently out of service.

In Rafah in southern Gaza, health services are provided through the Red Cross field hospital and two partially-functioning medical points.

Speaking from Jerusalem, he said the 17 partially functioning hospitals and seven field hospitals were barely running on a minimum amount of daily fuel and "will soon have none left".

"Without fuel, all levels of care will cease, leading to more preventable deaths and suffering."

Hospitals were already switching between generators and batteries to power ventilators, dialysis machines and incubators, he said, and without fuel, ambulances cannot run and supplies cannot be delivered to hospitals.

Furthermore, field hospitals are entirely reliant on generators, and without electricity, the cold chain for keeping vaccines would fail.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Monday that 5,194 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on the territory on March 18 following a truce.

The overall death toll in Gaza since the war broke out on October 7, 2023 has reached 55,493 people, according to the health ministry.

"People often ask when Gaza is going to be out of fuel; Gaza is already out of fuel," said WHO trauma surgeon and emergency officer Thanos Gargavanis, speaking from the Strip.

"We are walking already the fine line that separates disaster from saving lives. The shrinking humanitarian space makes every health activity way more difficult than the previous day."