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A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 24 November 2023

Qatar says Gaza cease-fire will begin Friday morning, with aid to

follow ‘as soon as possible’

By Wafaa Shurafa, Najib viding a reason. On Thurs- around two-thirds of the
Jobain and Jack Jeffery day, Qatari Foreign Ministry dead. The figures do not
Associated Press spokesman Majed al-Ansari include updated numbers
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip announced the cease-fire from hospitals in the north.
(AP) — A four-day cease- will start at 7 a.m. local time The ministry says some 6,000
fire in Gaza between Israel Friday (5 a.m. GMT.) people have been report-
and Hamas was set to be- He said the two sides had ed missing, feared buried
gin Friday morning, Qatar exchanged lists of those to under rubble.
said after a daylong delay be released, and the first The ministry does not differ-
extended the agony for group of 13 women and entiate between civilians
those hoping for some re- children held by Hamas and militants in its death
lief from the deal, which is would be freed Friday af- tolls. Israel says it has killed
to bring the release of doz- ternoon. He did not say thousands of Hamas fight-
ens of hostages held by how many Palestinian pris- ers, without presenting evi-
militants and Palestinians oners would be freed, but dence for its count.
imprisoned by Israel. officials have said three Palestinians inspect the rubble of destroyed building of Muharib The truce agreement raised
The diplomatic break- would be freed for every family killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in hopes of eventually wind-
through promised some hostage. Nusseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Nov. 23, ing down the war, which
relief for the 2.3 million Increased aid for Palestin- 2023. has leveled vast swaths of
Palestinians in Gaza who ians will start to enter Gaza (AP Photo/Adel Hana) Gaza, fueled a surge of vio-
have endured weeks of Is- “as soon as possible,” al- One resident, Hosni Mohar- to the Health Ministry in lence in the occupied West
raeli bombardment, as well Ansari said. The hope is that ib, said his wife and several Hamas-ruled Gaza, which Bank and stirred fears of a
as families in Israel fearful the “momentum” from this children were killed and resumed its detailed count wider conflagration across
for the fate of their loved deal will lead to an “end other relatives remained of casualties in Gaza from the Middle East.
ones taken captive during to this violence," he told re- buried under the rubble. the war. The ministry had Air-raid sirens sounded
Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that porters. “It exploded on the house, stopped publishing casu- across northern Israel on
triggered the war. Israeli airstrikes continued striking the babies and alty counts since Nov. 11, Thursday as Hezbollah said
The cease-fire was origi- Thursday. In the afternoon, young children. Everyone saying it had lost the abil- it fired 48 Katyusha rockets
nally set to begin Thursday a strike leveled a residen- in the house, they are all ity to do so because of the from southern Lebanon.
morning, but it appeared tial building in the Nuseirat dead,” he said, bursting health system's collapse in The barrage came after
to hit a snag the night be- refugee camp in central into tears. the north, an Israeli strike killed five
fore when Israel’s national Gaza. At least 12 people The Israeli bombardment, The new numbers were Hezbollah fighters, includ-
security adviser, Tzachi were killed, according to now in its seventh week, not fully broken down, but ing the son of the head of
Hanegbi, announced a officials at nearby Al-Aqsa has killed more than 13,300 women and minors have the group’s parliamentary
one-day delay without pro- Hospital. Palestinians, according consistently made up bloc.q

West Africa responds to huge diphtheria outbreaks by targeting

unvaccinated populations

died since the current out- gion has been a historically Worku, emergency medi-
break started in December wide vaccination gap, the cal program manager for
2022, though officials esti- French medical organiza- MSF in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
mate the toll — now on the tion Doctors Without Bor- “What is needed is a truly
decline because of treat- ders, or MSF, said in a state- massive scale-up of vacci-
ment efforts — could be ment on Tuesday. nation, as soon as possible.”
much higher across states In Nigeria, only 42% of chil- The Nigerian government is
unable to detect many dren under 15 years old are ramping up vaccination for
cases. fully protected from diph- targeted populations while
In Niger 37 people had theria, according to a gov- assisting states to boost
died out of the 865 cases ernment survey, while Guin- their capacity to detect
as of October, while Guin- ea has a 47% immunization and manage cases, said
ea has reported 58 deaths rate — both far below the Adetifa, the Nigeria CDC
out of 497 since its outbreak 80–85% rate recommend- head.
started in June. ed by the World Health But several states continue
“As far as the history that Organization to maintain to struggle, including Kano,
In this handout photo released by MSF, Dr. Aminu, left, on a
routine check up on patients at the diphtheria treatment centre I am aware of, this is the community protection. which accounts for more
of the Murtala muhammad specialist hospital in Kano, Nigeria, largest outbreak that we The fate of the affected than 75% of cases in Nige-
Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. have had,” Ifedayo Ad- countries is worsened by ria but has only two diph-
(Ehab Zawati, MSF via AP) etifa, head of the Nigeria the global shortages of theria treatment centers,
By Chinedu Asadu health official said Thurs- Centre for Disease Control, the diphtheria vaccine as according to Abubakar La-
Associated Press day that millions are being told The Associated Press. demand has increased to baran Yusuf, the state’s top
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Au- vaccinated to cover wide The highly contagious bac- respond to outbreaks, the health official.
thorities in several West Af- gaps in immunity against terial infection has been re- MSF said. “Once people have to
rican countries are trying to the disease. ported in 20 of Nigeria's 36 “We’re not seeing vacci- travel or move significant
manage their huge diph- At least 573 people out of states so far. nation happen, not at the distances to access treat-
theria outbreaks, includ- the 11,640 diagnosed with A major driver of the high scale that is needed,” said ment, that becomes a
ing in Nigeria where a top the disease in Nigeria have rate of infection in the re- Dr. Dagemlidet Tesfaye challenge,” Adetifa said.q