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Jordan Closes 97 Facilities after Mass Food Poisoning

A chef slices shawarma at a restaurant on 31 July 2019. EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP
A chef slices shawarma at a restaurant on 31 July 2019. EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP
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Jordan Closes 97 Facilities after Mass Food Poisoning

A chef slices shawarma at a restaurant on 31 July 2019. EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP
A chef slices shawarma at a restaurant on 31 July 2019. EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP

The Jordanian authorities ordered on Sunday the closure of 23 food facilities and one restaurant in Amman and refered their owners to the Public Prosecution after a five-year-old boy died and over 800 people were hospitalized from food poisoning in Baqa'a Ein al-Basha region last week.

Health Minister Saad Jaber said the initial investigation showed that the source of poisoning is the supplier of meat and other foodstuff served at restaurants with meals.

“Five tons of expired meat were seized in addition to half a ton of potatoes from the supply center,” he said.

Jaber told Petra news agency on Sunday that 20 facilities in Salt, Sweileh, Ein al-Basha, and one restaurant in Amman were closed as a precautionary measure until the lab tests results are issued.

He said his Ministry instructed the formation of a crisis cell to deal with the issue and also asked the General Prosecutor to take all legal measures and hold accountable those involved in the mass poisoning.

Fifty-seven new food poisoning cases were reported in Ein Al-Basha on Sunday, Jaber noted, adding that all cases were admitted to the Prince Al-Hussein Hospital in Salt and Al-Hussein Hospital in Ein Al-Basha.

Director General of Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) Nizar Mhidat said a lab test had shown bacteria in the meat and poultry.

Test results showed that the chicken is not safe for human consumption due to the presence of dense bacterial growth caused by poor storage conditions at meat warehouses and a failure to follow JFDA guidelines for high-risk materials, which require storage temperatures not to exceed five degrees Celsius.

Legal measures were taken and all violators were transferred to the Public Prosecutor for legal action.

Petra said the meat distributor turned himself in at Ein al-Basha police station on Sunday.

Seven people were arrested in relation to the mass food poisoning incident in Ein al-Basha.

The owner of the restaurant and six of his employees were charged with four offences causing harm, handling food in unsuitable conditions that made it harmful to human health, handling food that is not safe for human consumption and practicing a craft that causes harm.

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Arab World

Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

At least two people were killed and four rescued from the rubble of a multistory apartment building that collapsed Sunday in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, state media reported.

Rescue teams were continuing to dig through the rubble. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the building when it fell.

The bodies pulled out were of a child and a woman, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Dozens of people crowded around the site of the crater left by the collapsed building, with some shooting in the air.

The building was in the neighborhood of Bab Tabbaneh, one of the poorest areas in Lebanon’s second largest city, where residents have long complained of government neglect and shoddy infrastructure. Building collapses are not uncommon in Tripoli due to poor building standards, according to The AP news.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced that those injured in the collapse would receive treatment at the state’s expense.

The national syndicate for property owners in a statement called the collapse the result of “blatant negligence and shortcomings of the Lebanese state toward the safety of citizens and their housing security,” and said it is “not an isolated incident.”

The syndicate called for the government to launch a comprehensive national survey of buildings at risk of collapse.

Arab World

Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
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Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)

Israel's security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank, The AP news reported.

They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.

The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.

Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.

Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

The United Nations' highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.

Arab World

Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the attack by the Rapid Support Forces on humanitarian aid convoys and relief workers in North Kordofan State, Sudan.

In a statement reported by SPA, secretary-general's spokesperson Jamal Rushdi quoted Aboul Gheit as saying the attack constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the deliberate targeting of civilians and depriving them of their means of survival.

Aboul Gheit stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable, end impunity, and ensure the full protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and relief facilities in Sudan.