CAIRO: The Egyptian President surprised students at the Egyptian Military College with a visit in the early hours of Monday, and was seen having breakfast with them in pictures.
The official Facebook page for President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi posted pictures of the president while having breakfast at the college, and participating in a bicycle marathon with the students.
Also during the visit, Sissi inspected the physical preparation and training programs that are being carried by students at the military college.
He also addressed on the students to abide by the military ethics, affirming that terrorism and extremism seeks to destroy nations, and that the task of the Armed Forces is to maintain Egypt’s security and its people.
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Egypt’s Sissi on surprise visit to military college, has breakfast with students
Egypt’s Sissi on surprise visit to military college, has breakfast with students
WFP warns of ‘apocalyptic’ scenes in southern Gaza
The public health situation was “beyond crisis levels” Matthew Hollingworth, WFP director for the Palestinian territories said
From May 7 — when Israeli tanks and troops entered Rafah’s east — to May 20, “not a single WFP truck crossed from the southern corridors from Egypt,” Hollingworth said
ROME: Daily life has become “apocalyptic” in parts of southern Gaza since Israel moved into the city of Rafah, though the situation in the north is improving, the UN’s food agency said Friday.
“The exodus that we’ve seen in the past 20 days or so out of Rafah has been an awesome and horrific experience for many, many people,” Matthew Hollingworth, the World Food Programme (WFP) director for the Palestinian territories.
They have fled the fighting to areas where there was not enough water, health care or fuel, where food was limited, telecommunications had stopped and there was not enough space to dig pit latrines, Hollingworth told an online briefing.
The public health situation was “beyond crisis levels,” he said, adding: “The sounds and smells of everyday life are horrific and apocalyptic.”
People “sleep to the sounds of war... and they wake to the same sounds,” he said.
The WFP was able to provide “ever decreasing amounts of assistance,” with all of its bakeries in Rafah closed due to a lack of fuel and supplies, he said.
From May 7 — when Israeli tanks and troops entered Rafah’s east — to May 20, “not a single WFP truck crossed from the southern corridors from Egypt,” Hollingworth said.
The WFP also lost access to its main warehouse in the south of the Gaza Strip because it was in an evacuation zone, with 2,700 tons of food either looted or destroyed in fighting.
Hollingworth said the WFP was serving around 27,000 people with hot meals in Rafah — “but that’s not enough.”
In central areas of the Gaza Strip, where many people fled, the WFP is providing around 400,000 hot meals a day, and has kept six bakeries functioning.
Commercial food is also getting in, he said, but many people have no money, with some even resorting to trading their identity cards — which they need if they want to register for aid.
Hollingworth said aid trucks from Egypt had begun entering the Gaza Strip through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing.
“Since May 20, we have started to get a trickle of assistance in,” he said, though he warned the security situation was still slowing down the deliveries.
“That has to turn into a flood of assistance if we’re going to ensure we don’t start seeing the most acute forms of hunger becoming more common,” he said.
In the north of the Palestinian territory, by contrast, where UN agencies warned of imminent famine in March, Hollingworth said the situation was improving.
With the opening of crossings, around 12,000 tons of inter-agency assistance, mostly food, had been delivered since May 1.
“There has been a step change in terms of availability of food,” he said, though problems of health care, clean water supply and sewage remained.
The United States has built a temporary pier into Gaza, but it was damaged in poor weather, suspending deliveries.
During the two weeks it was open, about 1,000 tons of inter-agency aid moved through the pier, Hollingworth said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his government is doing everything to avoid famine in Gaza, and noted a study saying that calorie consumption in the territory was 3,200 a day — more than enough.
“I have not seen anybody, aid workers alike who live off protein bars, eat 3,000 calories or more in Gaza,” Hollingworth said.
The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,189 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,284 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
From May 7 — when Israeli tanks and troops entered Rafah’s east — to May 20, “not a single WFP truck crossed from the southern corridors from Egypt,” Hollingworth said
ROME: Daily life has become “apocalyptic” in parts of southern Gaza since Israel moved into the city of Rafah, though the situation in the north is improving, the UN’s food agency said Friday.
“The exodus that we’ve seen in the past 20 days or so out of Rafah has been an awesome and horrific experience for many, many people,” Matthew Hollingworth, the World Food Programme (WFP) director for the Palestinian territories.
They have fled the fighting to areas where there was not enough water, health care or fuel, where food was limited, telecommunications had stopped and there was not enough space to dig pit latrines, Hollingworth told an online briefing.
The public health situation was “beyond crisis levels,” he said, adding: “The sounds and smells of everyday life are horrific and apocalyptic.”
People “sleep to the sounds of war... and they wake to the same sounds,” he said.
The WFP was able to provide “ever decreasing amounts of assistance,” with all of its bakeries in Rafah closed due to a lack of fuel and supplies, he said.
From May 7 — when Israeli tanks and troops entered Rafah’s east — to May 20, “not a single WFP truck crossed from the southern corridors from Egypt,” Hollingworth said.
The WFP also lost access to its main warehouse in the south of the Gaza Strip because it was in an evacuation zone, with 2,700 tons of food either looted or destroyed in fighting.
Hollingworth said the WFP was serving around 27,000 people with hot meals in Rafah — “but that’s not enough.”
In central areas of the Gaza Strip, where many people fled, the WFP is providing around 400,000 hot meals a day, and has kept six bakeries functioning.
Commercial food is also getting in, he said, but many people have no money, with some even resorting to trading their identity cards — which they need if they want to register for aid.
Hollingworth said aid trucks from Egypt had begun entering the Gaza Strip through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing.
“Since May 20, we have started to get a trickle of assistance in,” he said, though he warned the security situation was still slowing down the deliveries.
“That has to turn into a flood of assistance if we’re going to ensure we don’t start seeing the most acute forms of hunger becoming more common,” he said.
In the north of the Palestinian territory, by contrast, where UN agencies warned of imminent famine in March, Hollingworth said the situation was improving.
With the opening of crossings, around 12,000 tons of inter-agency assistance, mostly food, had been delivered since May 1.
“There has been a step change in terms of availability of food,” he said, though problems of health care, clean water supply and sewage remained.
The United States has built a temporary pier into Gaza, but it was damaged in poor weather, suspending deliveries.
During the two weeks it was open, about 1,000 tons of inter-agency aid moved through the pier, Hollingworth said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his government is doing everything to avoid famine in Gaza, and noted a study saying that calorie consumption in the territory was 3,200 a day — more than enough.
“I have not seen anybody, aid workers alike who live off protein bars, eat 3,000 calories or more in Gaza,” Hollingworth said.
The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,189 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,284 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Suspense abounds over Palestinian health resolution at WHO
- Before the text could go to a vote, Israel surprisingly secured enough support to demand it be amended to include a call for the release of the hostages held in Gaza
- The Arab Group then attempted to retract the resolution, but was informed that doing so once an amendment had already been voted through was against the rules
GENEVA: A long-standing resolution urging WHO action on towering health needs in the Palestinian territories hung in the balance Friday, after Israel secured an amendment requiring the text to mention hostages held in Gaza.
The largely technical text presented on Wednesday by a group of Arab countries, including the Palestinians, to the World Health Organization’s supreme decision-making body, had been expected to pass easily, as similar resolutions have done annually for more than 50 years.
But before the text could go to a vote, Israel surprisingly secured enough support to demand it be amended to include a call for the release of the hostages held in Gaza, and a condemnation of the militarization of hospitals in the territory by Hamas.
The Arab Group then attempted to retract the resolution, but was informed that doing so once an amendment had already been voted through was against the rules.
It remained unclear what would happen on Friday when the issue again comes to the floor of the World Health Assembly — the annual gathering in Geneva of the WHO’s 194 member states.
One option for Arab countries was to vote against their own resolution to avoid approving a text including the Israeli amendment.
But it appeared they would rather try to push through an amendment of their own, beefing up criticism of Israel in the resolution.
Prior to the amendments, this year’s draft text urged a donor conference to address soaring health needs in Gaza and across the Palestinian territories.
It also requested reporting on the dire health crisis in Gaza, including on Israel’s “wanton destruction of health facilities” in the coastal strip.
Before voting began on Wednesday, Israel’s Ambassador Meirav Eilon Shahar told the assembly that any decision “that does not demand the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages is an unforgivable moral failure.”
A majority of countries had been expected to vote down Israel’s amendment.
But after Shahar demanded a roll-call vote, meaning each state had to publicly announce its stance, it became clear it would be tight.
Basically, all Arab and Muslim countries opposed the amendment, supported by among others heavyweights China and Russia.
The United States and most European nations backed it, while the picture was mixed elsewhere.
In the end, the amendment passed, with 50 votes in favor and 44 opposed, while 83 countries were either absent or abstained.
The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,189 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,224 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Former Iran parliament speaker registers for presidential vote after Raisi death
- Larijani told reporters that he would focus on fixing the economic problems facing Iranians
- He was barred from standing in the 2021 presidential race by the clerical-led Guardian Council which vets candidates
DUBAI: Former Iranian parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani, a prominent conservative, was among candidates registering on Friday for an early election next month following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, state media reported.
Larijani, an adviser and ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told reporters that he would focus on fixing the economic problems facing Iranians and “resolving (US) sanctions,” while maintaining a strong defense.
Larijani was barred from standing in the 2021 presidential race by the clerical-led Guardian Council which vets candidates. But an Iranian insider told Reuters that Larijani decided to run after he was assured by top officials that he would not be disqualified by the hard-line council. No reason was given for the change.
Abdolnaser Hemmati, a former central bank governor, was among other hopefuls who registered on Friday. Hemmati, a low-key moderate, also ran in the 2021 presidential election.
Iran on Thursday started the registration of candidates for the June 28 election.
Once seen as a possible successor to Khamenei, Iran’s ultimate decision-maker, Raisi’s sudden death has triggered a race among hard-liners to influence the selection of the country’s next leader.
After a five-day registration period, the Guardian Council will vet candidates running for the presidency. Moderate politicians have accused the 12-member body of disqualifying rivals to hard-line candidates, who are expected to dominate the race.
Turnout may be hit by restricted choice on the ballot and rising discontent over an array of political, social and economic crises.
Within Iran’s complex mix of clerical rulers and elected officials, Khamenei has the final say on all state matters such as nuclear and foreign policies. But the elected president will be in charge of tackling worsening economic hardship.
Saeed Jalili, a former chief nuclear negotiator who two decades ago ran Khamenei’s office for four years, was the first heavyweight hard-liner to register for the election on Thursday.
Jalili had made an unsuccessful bid in 2013 for the presidency and withdrew from the 2021 race to support Raisi.
Parviz Fattah, a former Revolutionary Guards member who heads an investment fund linked to the leader, could also register as a candidate.
Interim President Mohammad Mokhber has also been mentioned in Iranian media as a possible candidate.
Several low-key moderate politicians are also likely to enter the race.
EU sanctions Iran’s defense minister, IRGC over drones and missiles
- Key armed forces command center and electronics company also sanctioned
BRUSSELS: The European Union on Friday imposed sanctions on Iran’s defense minister, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, and the country’s Revolutionary Guards for sending missiles and drones being used against Israel and Ukraine and in the Red Sea.
The high-profile measures also targeted the leader of the Guard’s Qods force for his role in transferring missiles used by Iran’s Hezbollah proxy militia against Israel, and by Houthis firing from Yemen.
A key armed forces command center and an electronics company were also sanctioned.
Also on Friday, the US issued fresh Iran-related sanctions, according to a posting on a Treasury Department website.
The sanctions target one individual linked to Iran Aviation Industries Organization and four entities, it said.
Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers say Israel strike on ambulance kills medic
BEIRUT: Rescuers affiliated with Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group said a medic was killed and another wounded on Friday in an Israeli strike on one of their ambulances in south Lebanon.
Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, has traded regular cross-border fire with Israel since the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered war in the Gaza Strip.
“An Israeli drone strike targeted an ambulance... One rescuer was martyred and another wounded” in the border town of Naqura, the operations room of the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee told AFP.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency also said “an enemy drone targeted a Health Committee ambulance in the town of Naqura,” reporting casualties.
Several militant groups in Lebanon operate health centers and emergency response operations.
On Monday, the NNA had said “an enemy drone” targeted “a motorcycle near the Salah Ghandour hospital in the town of Bint Jbeil” in the country’s south.
The director of the facility, which is also run by the Islamic Health Committee, said two civilians were killed in the strike.
In a statement, Lebanon’s health ministry condemned the “brutal Israeli strike” on the hospital, calling it a “war crime.”
At least 446 people have been killed in Lebanon in more than seven months of cross-border violence, mostly militants but also including 87 civilians, according to an AFP tally.
Several Islamic Health Committee rescuers are among the dead.
Israel says 14 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed on its side of the border.
In March, the United Nations said it was “deeply disturbed” by attacks on health care facilities in south Lebanon, after several strikes blamed on Israel killed 10 emergency rescue workers.
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