GENEVA: Attacks on medics and health facilities in war zones jumped in 2023 to the highest level since records began 11 years ago, a group of non-governmental organizations said on Wednesday, with nearly half attributed to state forces.
The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition, composed of 40 groups including medical charities, reported 2,562 incidents of violence or obstructions including arrests, killings and kidnappings of doctors and strikes across hospitals in 30 conflicts including Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan.
That is up by about a quarter compared with 2022.
Unlike the World Health Organization which also documents attacks on health care, the group apportions responsibility and said governments were to blame for nearly half of the attacks.
Len Rubenstein, chair of the coalition and a Johns Hopkins University professor, called for “far more assertive action to end the scourge of violence against health care,” asking governments to cease arms transfers to perpetrators and press prosecutors to hold them accountable.
The group uses open source data and partner contributions and cross checks to ensure no double counting.
The coalition attributed 489 incidents in Gaza last year to Israeli forces, including medic deaths or injuries and strikes or raids on hospitals. No responsibility had been established in seven other cases, including the deaths of six Israeli military medics killed in fighting in separate incidents between October and December, and the bombing of the Al-Ahli Hospital on Oct. 17, 2023, it said.
Israel, whose military offensive in Gaza began after the deadly Hamas cross-border attacks of Oct. 7, says hospitals in the Palestinian enclave are used by Hamas militants as bases.
Attacks on health care in war zones surge 25 percent last year, NGOs say
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Attacks on health care in war zones surge 25 percent last year, NGOs say
- The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition, composed of 40 groups including medical charities, reported 2,562 incidents
- The group apportions responsibility and said governments were to blame for nearly half of the attacks
Bangladeshi police arrest student protest leaders from hospital
- Police say they arrested three student leaders ‘to keep them safe’
- Two of them were still undergoing treatment, hospital worker says
DHAKA: Bangladeshi police have discharged from hospital and arrested the leaders of a student protest that led to nationwide unrest last week, when security forces clashed with demonstrators.
Students have been demonstrating since the beginning of July against a rule that reserves a bulk of government jobs for the descendants of those who fought in the country’s 1971 liberation war.
At least 209 people have been killed and thousands injured, according to a count based on reports in the local media after the protests turned violent last week.
Most of the casualties were reported in Dhaka, which saw intense clashes between protesters, government supporters, police and paramilitary troops, when the country went into a communications blackout for six days.
Among the injured were student leaders Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud, coordinators of Students Against Discrimination, the main protest organizing group. They were patients at Gonoshasthya Hospital in Dhaka, from where they were arrested by the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Friday evening. Another student leader visiting Islam and Mahmud, Abu Baker Majumder, was detained as well.
Detective Branch chief Harun Or-Rashid told reporters in Dhaka on Saturday that the trio had been detained “for security reasons” as their families were worried about their safety.
“We took them in our custody to keep them safe,” he said.
The student leaders were arrested by a group of more than a dozen plainclothes officers despite objections from medical staff, a hospital worker told Arab News.
“At first, we tried to make them understand that without proper protocols, admitted patients couldn’t be released from the hospital. Later on, they talked with our authorities, and the students were taken from the hospital. There was no way we could hold them further,” the hospital worker said on condition of anonymity.
“The students’ health was not so good ... Asif was dealing with low blood pressure, and Nahid was suffering from blood clots and bruises on different parts of his body. Both of them needed further treatment.”
The arrests come in a crackdown launched by police in Dhaka, where a curfew imposed last week was still in place.
Liton Kumar Saha, joint commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said that 2,284 people have been arrested in Dhaka over the protest-related clashes, in which numerous administration offices were set on fire.
“We are analyzing the footage of different places and identifying the miscreants. When we get confirmed about someone’s involvement in the anarchy, we conduct the operations to arrest them. It has been conducted with transparency, and we are checking the people who were involved with sabotage,” he told Arab News.
“In the last 24 hours, 245 persons were arrested in Dhaka. Our drive will continue until the situation gets normal.”
International rights groups have repeatedly raised concerns over Bangladesh’s handling of the protests, with Amnesty International saying that witness testimonies and video and photographic evidence “confirm the use of unlawful force by the police against student protesters.”
The protests broke out after the High Court upheld a controversial quota system, in which 56 percent of public service jobs were reserved for specific groups, including women, marginalized communities and children and grandchildren of freedom fighters — for whom the government earmarks 30 percent of the posts.
The Supreme Court last week scaled back the quota system, ordering 93 percent of government jobs to be allocated on merit.
Russia slams Olympic opening as ‘massive failure’
- “I wasn’t planning to watch the opening. But after seeing the photos, I couldn’t believe it wasn’t a deep fake or photoshop,” Zakharova wrote on Telegram
- “Ridiculous open-air opening ceremony forced guests to sit for hours under pouring rain“
MOSCOW: Russia on Saturday slammed the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games as a “massive failure.”
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova gave a long list of shortcomings at Friday’s ceremony, which was not broadcast live on Russian television.
“I wasn’t planning to watch the opening. But after seeing the photos, I couldn’t believe it wasn’t a deep fake or photoshop,” the spokeswoman wrote on Telegram
Only a few Russian athletes have been approved to participate in the Games as “neutrals.” Competiors under the Russian flag have been banned over Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine.
Zakharova wrote that the “ridiculous open-air opening ceremony forced guests to sit for hours under pouring rain.”
“The organizers did not think of either seeding the clouds or awnings,” she said, referring to Russia’s practice of sending up planes ahead of major outdoor events to attempt to break up clouds.
France detained a Russian man just ahead of the Games’ opening, accusing him of a “destablization” plot for the event. “I wonder how many more ‘spies’ had to be embedded for the opening of the Olympics in Paris to end up such a massive failure?” said Zakharova.
Zakharova also mocked the “transport collapse” on the day, after three arson attacks on the rail system, and France’s blaming this on sabotage.
She said the center of Paris was “transformed into a ghetto for homeless people,” while “rats flooded the streets.”
Other targets were the US rapper Snoop Dogg carrying the Olympic torch and gaffes such as introducing the South Korean team as North Korea and raising the Olympic flag upside-down.
Zakharova picked on a part of the opening ceremony featuring drag queens, interpreted by some as parodying The Last Supper. She called it a “mockery of a sacred story for Christians,” saying that “the Apostles were shown as transvestites.”
“Evidently in Paris they decided that if the Olympic rings are multi-colored, you can turn it all into one giant gay parade,” she added.
A spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church, Vakhtang Kipshidze, also condemned this section, writing on his personal Telegram channel that it was “cultural and historical suicide.”
Indian PM Modi likely to visit Ukraine in August, local media reports
- Ukraine’s embassy in New Delhi said it had no information to share immediately
- There was no immediate response from India’s foreign ministry
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Ukraine next month, a local media report said, his first visit to the country since its war with Russia began and just weeks after he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Ukraine’s embassy in New Delhi said it had no information to share immediately. There was no immediate response from India’s foreign ministry.
Western countries have imposed sanctions on Moscow following its all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but “friendly” nations such as India and China have continued to trade.
India has refrained from directly blaming Russia, while urging the two nations to resolve their conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.
Modi met Putin just as a Russian missile struck a hospital in Kyiv killing at least 41 people. The Indian leader told Putin that the death of innocent children was “painful and terrifying.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed unhappiness over Modi’s visit, calling it a “huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts” to see him hug “the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day.”
Russia denied striking the hospital.
The US State Department has raised concerns over India’s relationship with Russia especially at a time when it has been seeking to strengthen ties with India as a potential counterweight to an ascendant China.
New Delhi is seeking to deepen its relationship with the West while keeping ties intact with Russia.
The final date of Modi’s visit is not yet confirmed, The Print reported on Saturday.
French minister says foreign involvement not ruled out in rail sabotage
- “Who is responsible? Either it’s from within, or it’s been ordered from abroad, it’s too early to say,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said
- Two security sources said on Friday the modus operandi meant initial suspicions fell on leftist militants or environmental activists
PARIS: France’s interior minister said on Saturday he could not rule out foreign involvement in an attack that sabotaged signal stations and cables on the country’s high-speed rail network, causing travel chaos on the opening day of the Olympic Games.
Friday’s pre-dawn attacks damaged infrastructure along the lines connecting Paris with cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg in the east. Another attack on the Paris-Marseille line was foiled, SNCF has said.
There has been no immediate claim of responsibility.
“Who is responsible? Either it’s from within, or it’s been ordered from abroad, it’s too early to say,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told France 2 television.
He added: “We have uncovered a certain number of elements which lead us to believe that we will know fairly quickly who is responsible.”
Two security sources said on Friday the modus operandi meant initial suspicions fell on leftist militants or environmental activists, but that there was not yet any evidence.
Traffic on France’s high-speed rail network should be back to normal by Monday, Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete and rail operator SNCF’s chief Jean-Pierre Farandou told reporters on Saturday.
SNCF reiterated that transport plans for teams competing in the Paris 2024 Olympics would be guaranteed.
On Friday, 100,000 people could not take their trains, and another 150,000 faced delays but eventually got to their destinations, Vergriete said.
“There will still be disruptions tomorrow,” Vergriete said. “From Monday, there is no need to worry.”
French train networks partially restored after line sabotage ahead of Olympics
- Despite the disruptions, SNCF railway company says all transportation for Olympic teams, accredited personnel will be maintained
- The sabotage incidents have raised concerns about security as Paris hosts the Olympics, with authorities actively investigating
PARIS: French railway company SNCF said Saturday it has made progress in partially restoring high-speed train services after acts of sabotage disrupted three major lines ahead of Friday night’s Olympic Games opening ceremony on the Seine River.
SNCF said its agents worked through the night in adverse weather conditions to improve the TGV traffic from the north, east and west to Paris. As of Saturday morning, normal service had resumed on the Eastern high-speed line.
“On the North, Brittany and South-West high-speed lines, seven out of 10 trains on average will run with delays of one to two hours,” SNCF said.
The company added that traffic will continue to be disrupted on the North axis on Sunday, but conditions are expected to improve on the Atlantic axis for weekend returns. Customers are being contacted via text message and email to confirm the running of their trains.
Despite the disruptions, SNCF said all transportation for Olympic teams and accredited personnel will be maintained as planned.
The sabotage incidents have raised concerns about security as Paris hosts the Olympics. French authorities are actively investigating but say that no suspects have been identified or apprehended so far.
