Hamas members suspected of plotting attacks go on trial in Germany

GENEVA: The World Health Organization is deeply concerned about violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the impact of “starkly rising” attacks on health care, its representative in the Palestinian territories said on Tuesday.
Israel sent tanks into the West Bank for the first time in more than 20 years on Sunday and ordered the military to prepare for an “extended stay” to fight Palestinian militant groups in the area’s refugee camps.
“We are deeply concerned about the situation in the West bank and the impact on health,” Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the West Bank and Gaza, told reporters via video link from the Gaza Strip.
“We see the current flashpoints of violence, attacks on health care ... starkly rising in the West Bank.”
Israel did not immediately comment on Peeperkorn’s remarks about attacks affecting health care.
The WHO says there have been 44 attacks this year that affected the provision of health care in the West Bank, with four health care facilities impacted.
Four patients died waiting for an ambulance and eight health workers were injured while attempting to reach patients, it said.
It also said 25 health care workers and patients had been killed and 121 injured in the West Bank from October 7 2023 – the date of the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel that started the Gaza war – to February 14 this year.
The WHO also reported “severe movement restrictions” across the West Bank, including obstacles affecting the movement of ambulances and access for health care workers.
The WHO has provided emergency supplies and trauma kits to some West Bank hospitals, Peeperkorn said.
At least 40,000 Palestinians have left their homes in Jenin and the nearby city of Tulkarm in the northern West Bank since Israel began its operation last month after reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza after 15 months of war.
Eighty-two Palestinians were killed in the West Bank between January 1 and February 13, according to the latest WHO figures.

DAMASCUS: Syria’s new interim president, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, said he plans to establish a transitional justice committee, in a speech Tuesday after the opening of a national dialogue conference.
Sharaa, whose Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham toppled longtime president Bashar Assad in December, also emphasized the unity of Syria and the state’s “monopoly” on weapons.
The national dialogue conference, held in the presidential palace in Damascus, marks the start of a crucial phase for the country’s future governance after a devastating civil war.
“Over the past two months, we have worked on pursuing those who committed crimes against Syrians,” Sharaa told the gathering.
“We will work on forming a transitional justice body to restore people’s rights, ensure justice, and, God willing, bring criminals to justice.
“The unity of arms and their monopoly by the state is not a luxury but a duty and an obligation,” the interim leader said.
“Syria is indivisible; it is a complete whole, and its strength lies in its unity.”
Hundreds of people were seen arriving for the conference in footage published by the official SANA news agency, before discussions got underway.