Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to reopen Sunday

The Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al Aqsa Mosque compound is seen in Jerusalem’s Old City Saturday. (AP)
Updated 16 July 2017
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Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to reopen Sunday

JERUSALEM: The ultra-sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City will reopen on Sunday after being closed for more than a day following deadly shootings, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
“It has been decided to reopen the Temple Mount gradually tomorrow for the faithful, visitors and tourists,” the premier’s office said in a statement late Saturday.
Three Arab Israeli assailants opened fire on Israeli police on Friday in the Old City, killing two officers, before fleeing to the nearby compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, where they were shot dead by police.


WHO says Dubai global emergency logistics hub ‘resuming operations’

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WHO says Dubai global emergency logistics hub ‘resuming operations’

  • Hanan Balkhy, WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean regional chief, says more than 50 emergency supply requests across 25 countries are affected by the pause
  • The hub stopped work this week after Iran launched waves of missile and drone attacks across the Gulf
GENEVA: The World Health Organization said its global health emergencies logistics hub in Dubai was resuming operations on Friday after a pause caused by the war in the Middle East.
“One of our most immediate concerns is the disruption of humanitarian health supply chains,” Hanan Balkhy, the UN health agency’s Eastern Mediterranean regional chief, told a press conference in Geneva.
“After a temporary pause, WHO’s Hub for Global Health Emergencies Logistics is today resuming operations,” she said, speaking from Cairo.
She said the UAE, in coordination with the UN’s World Food Programme, had confirmed that it stood ready to facilitate urgent humanitarian shipments.
“More than 50 emergency supply requests across 25 countries are currently affected,” said Balkhy.
“These pending requests — which will benefit more than 1.5 million people — include WHO supplies for Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, and Somalia, as well as polio laboratory supplies for global detection and eradication activities across a number of countries.”
She said the WHO would be working in the coming days to process urgent new shipments and clear priority backlogs.
Balkhy noted that even before the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, health systems in many countries were already operating at full capacity.
“WHO has pre-positioned trauma supplies and essential medicines at our warehouse in Tehran and is closely monitoring the situation — including potential mass casualty needs, disruptions to essential health services, and possible displacement,” she said.