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UAE confirms record 3,491 new COVID-19 cases, 5 deaths

The UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention said the total number of cases since the pandemic began had reached 260,223, while the death toll rose to 756. (File/WAM)
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Updated 21 January 2021
Arab News
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UAE confirms record 3,491 new COVID-19 cases, 5 deaths

  • UAE says 3,311 have recovered over the past 24 hours
  • Meanwhile 578 new cases and 2 more deaths reported in Kuwait; 135 cases and 2 deaths in Oman
Updated 21 January 2021
Arab News

DUBAI: The UAE on Tuesday recorded 3,491 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, the highest daily count since the start of the pandemic, and five more deaths related to the disease.
Officials from the Ministry of Health and Prevention said the total number of cases in the country has reached 260,223, while the death toll stands at 756. A total of 231,675 patients have recovered from the disease, including 3,311 in the past 24 hours.
The ministry reported that more than 2.065 million people have been vaccinated in the UAE, a rate of 20.88 doses per 100 residents. The country is second only to Israel in terms of vaccination rate.
Health officials said the impressive results of the nation’s vaccination effort so far can be attributed to the “success of the COVID-19 national campaign and the great response to the campaign from all members of society.”
Health Minster Abdul Rahman Al-Owais said: “Reaching this record number within a short period reflects the exceptional efforts of our wise leadership in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the concerted efforts of the government and all state institutions and our front-line workers to provide the COVID-19 vaccine for all in various regions of the country.”
He called on all who are eligible for the vaccine to register for it at one of the vaccination centers set up across the country as part of the effort to achieve the goal of immunizing more than 50 percent of the population by April.

In other virus-related news, the Ministry of Education announced that distance learning for schools will continue for an additional two weeks. The decision to extend the duration of the precautionary measure was made in response to the recent increases in daily cases, and in the interests of safeguarding the health of children. Pupils have been studying remotely since the start of the year.
“We have the ability to respond quickly in the smooth transition between physical learning and distance learning for about 1.2 million students,” said ministry spokesman Hazza Al-Mansoori. “With time, our country is increasing its uniqueness and success through the availability of a high-tech, smart educational structure and skilled educational cadres.” He added that students and parents have been very cooperative.
All decisions are based on constantly updated data and statistics, and in coordination with the authorities and leadership of the country, Al-Mansoori said, taking into account the views and opinions of parents and other segments of society. He called on those who work in education to be vaccinated as soon as possible to protect their students, families and society in general.
During daily inspection tours, officials from Dubai Economy issued fines to seven commercial establishments and warnings to another 12 over failures to adhere to COVID-19 precautions.

Dubai Municipality announced it has intensified its inspection campaigns. It said six businesses were ordered to close, 22 were fined and warnings were issued to 51 for not complying with precautionary measures.
Meanwhile, Department of Human Resources in Ajman issued a notice to all government agencies in the emirate informing them that from Feb. 2, all government employees must take a PCR test for COVID-19 every seven days, at their own expense, if they have not received the two doses of the vaccine that are required.
The order came a day after the UAE’s Federal Authority for Government Human Resources issued a notice to all ministries and federal entities amending the procedures for dealing with the pandemic. It also applies to outsourced employees and public-service companies.
Elsewhere, Kuwait reported 578 new cases of COVID-19, raising the total in the country to 158,822. The death toll rose to 950 after two additional deaths were reported in the previous 24 hours.

Oman’s health ministry confirmed 135 new cases and two deaths, bringing the national totals to 132,146 and 1,516, respectively.

In Bahrain the death toll stands at 362 after two more deaths were reported. The number of confirmed cases in the country increased by 320.

Topics: UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention COVID-19 Coronavirus Abdul Rahman Al-Owais UAE Ministry of Education vaccine Ajman Human Resources Department UAE Federal Authority for Government Human Resources Kuwait Bahrain Oman

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Italy summons Israeli ambassador after UN peacekeepers wounded in Lebanon: govt source

Updated 3 sec ago
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Italy summons Israeli ambassador after UN peacekeepers wounded in Lebanon: govt source

Updated 3 sec ago
The UNIFIL force said that Israeli tank fire on its headquarters wounded two members

ROME: Italy’s defense minister summoned the Israeli ambassador Thursday, a government source told AFP, after the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said it had been hit by Israeli tank fire.
The UNIFIL force, which has some 10,000 peacekeepers in south Lebanon, said that Israeli tank fire on its headquarters wounded two members, as Israeli troops battle Hezbollah militants on the border.

UN inquiry accuses Israel of crime of ‘extermination’ in destruction of Gaza health system

Updated 11 min 27 sec ago
Reuters
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UN inquiry accuses Israel of crime of ‘extermination’ in destruction of Gaza health system

  • A statement released ahead of a full report accused Israel of “relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities” in the war
  • “Children in particular have borne the brunt of these attacks, suffering both directly and indirectly from the collapse of the health system,” said Pillay
Updated 11 min 27 sec ago
Reuters

GENEVA: A United Nations inquiry said on Thursday it found that Israel carried out a concerted policy of destroying Gaza’s health care system in the Gaza war, actions amounting to both war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination.
A statement by ex-UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay released ahead of a full report accused Israel of “relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities” in the war, triggered by Hamas militants’ deadly cross-border attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“Children in particular have borne the brunt of these attacks, suffering both directly and indirectly from the collapse of the health system,” said Pillay, whose report will be presented to the UN General Assembly on Oct. 30.
Israel says that Gaza’s militants operate from the cover of built-up populated areas including private homes, schools and
hospitals
and that it will strike them wherever they emerge, while also trying to avoid harming civilians. Hamas denies hiding militants, weapons and command posts among civilians.
The UN inquiry’s statement also accused Israeli forces of deliberately killing and torturing medical personnel, targeting medical vehicles and restricting permits for patients to leave the besieged Gaza Strip.
As an example, it cited the death of a Palestinian girl, Hind Rajab, in February along with family members and two medics who came to rescue her from under Israeli fire.
The World Health Organization says over 10,000 patients requiring urgent medical evacuation have been prevented from leaving Gaza since the Rafah border crossing with Egypt was shut in May. The Palestinian health ministry says nearly 1,000 medics have been killed in Gaza in the past year in what the WHO called “an irreplaceable loss and a massive blow to the health system.”
The statement said the treatment of both Palestinian detainees in Israel and hostages seized by Hamas fighters in the Oct. 7 attack had been investigated and it accused both sides of involvement in torture and sexual violence.
The Commission of Inquiry has a broad mandate to collect evidence and identify suspected perpetrators of international crimes committed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. It bases its findings on a range of sources including interviews with victims and witnesses, submissions and satellite imagery.
The COI has previously alleged that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes in the early stages of the Gaza war, and that Israel’s actions also constituted crimes against humanity because of the immense civilian losses. The term is reserved for the most serious international crimes knowingly committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians.
Israel has not cooperated with the inquiry, which it says has an anti-Israel bias. The COI has accused Israel of obstructing its work and preventing investigators from accessing both Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Sometimes, the evidence gathered by such UN-mandated bodies has formed the basis for war crimes prosecutions and could be drawn on by the International Criminal Court.

Topics: War on Gaza UN Navi Pillay Israel war crimes crime against humanity

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Man wounded in Israel stabbing attack dies: hospital

Updated 40 min 47 sec ago
AFP
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Man wounded in Israel stabbing attack dies: hospital

  • “Unfortunately, despite the efforts of the medical team, the injured person was pronounced dead,” said a statement
  • Palestinian militant group Hamas praised the Hadera attack, calling it a “heroic stabbing operation“
Updated 40 min 47 sec ago
AFP

JERUSALEM: A man wounded in a stabbing rampage in the Israeli town of Hadera has died of his wounds, the hospital where he was being treated said on Thursday.
Rafael Mordechai Fishof was one of the six people wounded in what police called a “terrorist attack” on Wednesday in four locations of Hadera, before the assailant was “neutralized.”
“Unfortunately, despite the efforts of the medical team, the injured person was pronounced dead,” said a statement from the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera, where Fishof had been admitted.
“Yesterday, at the hospital, we prayed for his recovery and now our hearts are broken by this difficult news,” Hadera mayor Nir Ben Haim said in a statement, referring to Fishof, 35, a father of six.
Palestinian militant group Hamas, with which Israeli forces are locked in a fierce war in Gaza, praised the Hadera attack, calling it a “heroic stabbing operation.”
Hamas also called for “more painful strikes against the occupation (Israel).”
Israeli authorities have not provided information about the suspect but Israeli media identified him as Ahmad Jabareen, 36, an Israeli citizen from the Arab town of Umm Al-Fahm.
The Hadera attack came more than a week after seven people were killed in a shooting and stabbing claimed by Hamas in the Israeli commercial hub Tel Aviv.
Palestinian militants have carried out several attacks on Israelis since October 7 last year, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, sparking war in Gaza.

Topics: War on Gaza Israel Hamas Hadera stabbing

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Iraq repatriates 706 people from Syria camp

Updated 53 min 12 sec ago
AFP
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Iraq repatriates 706 people from Syria camp

  • Al-Hol houses relatives of suspected Daesh group militants alongside refugees
  • The security source told AFP that “706 people, or 181 families, returned to Iraq from Al-Hol and were transferred to the Al-Jadaa“
Updated 53 min 12 sec ago
AFP

BAGHDAD: Iraq repatriated 706 people from Syria’s Al-Hol camp, home to tens of thousands of people including family members of suspected militants, a security source said Thursday.
More than 43,000 Syrians, Iraqis and other foreigners from at least 45 countries are held in the squalid and overcrowded camp in Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria.
Al-Hol houses relatives of suspected Daesh group militants alongside refugees.
The security source, who requested anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the media, told AFP that “706 people, or 181 families, returned to Iraq from Al-Hol and were transferred to the Al-Jadaa,” a camp near the northern city of Mosul.
It is the fourth group of Iraqis brought back from Al-Hol in a year, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.
Repatriation of family members of suspected Daesh members has stirred controversy in Iraq, where the militant group seized large swathes of land before being defeated in late 2017.
To mitigate tensions, upon arrival in Iraq, authorities usually keep returnees from Al-Hol for weeks or even months at what officials describe as a “psychological rehabilitation” facility in Al-Jadaa camp, where they also undergo security checks before returning home.

Topics: Iraq Syria al-hol camp Daesh

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Egypt, Somalia leaders visit Eritrea amid regional tensions

Updated 48 min 41 sec ago
AFP
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Egypt, Somalia leaders visit Eritrea amid regional tensions

  • Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia meet in Asmara
  • Cairo has also long been at odds with Addis Ababa, particularly over the vast Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile
Updated 48 min 41 sec ago
AFP

NAIROBI: The leaders of Egypt, Eritrea and Somalia were due to hold a three-way summit in Asmara on Thursday against a backdrop of heightened tensions in the Horn of Africa region.
Concerns about security and stability in the volatile area have mounted since Ethiopia in January signed a controversial deal with the breakaway Somali region of Somaliland, giving it long-sought access to the sea.
The maritime agreement infuriated Mogadishu and highlighted regional rivalries as relations soured between Ethiopia and Somalia.
The summit between Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia will focus on “bolstering the ties between the three countries as well as matters of regional security and stability,” Eritrea’s information ministry said on X.
Mohamud, who has already visited Eritrea several times, held separate talks with Isaias shortly after his arrival late Wednesday, the ministry said.
They spoke of the need to bolster cooperation “in the heavy tasks of the maintenance of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence, and unity of Somalia; which remains a prerequisite for its development against the backdrop of enormous challenges in the past two decades,” it added.
El-Sisi — whose government is siding with Somalia in its standoff with Ethiopia — flew in on Thursday and will also meet Isaias before the tripartite summit, the ministry said.
The agreement between Addis Ababa and Somaliland would see Ethiopia, one of the biggest landlocked countries in the world, lease a stretch of coastline from Somaliland for a naval base and port.
But Mogadishu — which like the rest of the international community refuses to recognize Somaliland’s 1991 declaration of independence — has described it as an assault on its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Somalia reacted by growing closer to Ethiopian rival Egypt, with the two countries signing a major military deal in August and Cairo pledging troops for a new African Union mission against the Al-Shabab jihadist group.
Cairo has also long been at odds with Addis Ababa, particularly over the vast Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile which it says threatens its water supply.
El-Sisi’s office said his visit would focus on building relations with Eritrea and address “efforts to establish stability and security in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea in a manner that supports development and serves the interests of the peoples of the region.”
Relations between Addis Ababa and Asmara have also been deteriorating recently, even though troops from Asmara backed Ethiopian government forces in the brutal 2020-2022 war against Tigrayan rebels.
Last month Ethiopian Airlines said it was suspending flights to Asmara because of “difficult” operating conditions.
Dubbed the “North Korea” of Africa, Eritrea has been ruled with an iron fist by Isaias since it formally declared independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after three decades of war.

Topics: isaias afwerki Abdel Fattah El-Sisi Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

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