The World Health Organization said a staff member was released on Sunday more than four weeks after being detained in Gaza by Israeli forces.
“Extremely relieved that our colleague, detained since 21 July in Gaza, was released this morning,” agency Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X. He reiterated a call for protection of all WHO staff and personnel, and health and humanitarian workers.
In July, the United Nations agency said the Israeli military had attacked its staff residence and main warehouse in the Gazan city of Deir Al-Balah.
During that time, the WHO said that two of its staff members and two family members were detained by Israeli forces. Three were later released, while one staff member remained in detention.
Last week, a global hunger monitor determined that famine has struck an area of Gaza and would likely spread over the next month, an assessment that could escalate pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
The WHO describes the health sector in Gaza as being “on its knees,” with shortages of fuel, medical supplies and frequent mass casualty influxes.
WHO reports release of staff member detained by Israeli forces in Gaza
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WHO reports release of staff member detained by Israeli forces in Gaza
Baghdad airport reopens after weather disruption
- A thick fog has blanketed the capital Baghdad and several areas in Iraq, drastically reducing visibility since the early morning hours
BAGHDAD: Baghdad International Airport reopened Thursday after a 12-hour halt due to bad weather, the transport ministry said.
Authorities announced at around 12:30 a.m. (2130 GMT) they had temporarily shut Baghdad airport to air traffic because of poor weather conditions and fog that drastically reduced visibility.
Other airports, Najaf in central Iraq and Sulaimaniyah in the northern Kurdistan region, were also closed.
The transport ministry said at midday Thursday the “airspace has been reopened” at Baghdad and Najaf airports, according to the official INA press agency.
Heavy rains over the past two days caused flooding in several areas in Iraq, particularly in the autonomous Kurdistan region.
Floods in the north killed at least three people, including a child, according to local authorities. A key bridge connecting the northern city of Kirkuk to Baghdad also collapsed.
Authorities hope the heavy rains will help alleviate water shortages in drought-stricken Iraq, after water reserves in artificial lakes hit their lowest levels in the country’s recent history following a dry season.
Iraq, heavily impacted by climate change, has been ravaged for years by drought and low rainfall.
