Young Palestinians launch clean-up initiative at Al-Shifa medical complex

Palestinians check the damage outside the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on November 26, 2023. (File/AFP)
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Updated 27 November 2023
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Young Palestinians launch clean-up initiative at Al-Shifa medical complex

  • The focus of the initiative was to bring the medical facility back to operational status at a minimal level

DUBAI: Young Palestinians have launched a volunteer program to clean and revive the Al-Shifa medical complex in western Gaza City following days under siege by Israeli forces, the Anadolu Agency reported on Monday.

The focus of the initiative was to bring the medical facility back to operational status at a minimal level, with special attention to preparing the kidney dialysis department.

Mahmoud Hammad, the director general of administrative affairs at the Ministry of Health in Gaza, said that despite the extensive destruction of facilities, the volunteer initiative aimed to address urgent healthcare needs by cleaning and sterilizing the complex, and prioritizing the restart of the kidney dialysis department.

He pointed out that patients in Gaza relying on kidney dialysis faced life-threatening consequences without access to necessary sessions.


Flash floods kill 21 in Moroccan coastal town

Updated 59 min 20 sec ago
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Flash floods kill 21 in Moroccan coastal town

RABAT: Flash-flooding caused by sudden, heavy rain killed at least 21 people in the Moroccan coastal town of Safi on Sunday, local authorities said.
Images on social media showed a torrent of muddy water sweeping cars and rubbish bins from the streets in Safi, which sits around 300 kilometers (186 miles) south of the capital Rabat.
At least 70 homes and businesses in the historic old city were flooded, authorities said.
Another 32 people were injured and taken to hospital, but most of them have been discharged.

Damage to roads cut off traffic along several routes to and from the port city on the Atlantic coast.
“It’s a black day,” resident Hamza Chdouani told AFP.
By evening, the water level had receded, leaving people to pick through a mud-sodden landscape to salvage belongings.
Another resident, Marouane Tamer, questioned why government trucks had not been dispatched to pump out the water.
As teams searched for other possible casualties, the weather service forecast more heavy rain on Tuesday across the country.
Severe weather and flooding are not uncommon in Morocco, which is struggling with a severe drought for the seventh consecutive year.
The General Directorate of Meteorology (DGM) said 2024 was Morocco’s hottest year on record, while registering an average rainfall deficit of -24.7 percent.
Moroccan autumns are typically marked by a gradual drop in temperatures, but climate change has affected weather patterns and made storms more intense because a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture and warmer seas can turbocharge the systems.