GCC takes strict measures to prevent Ebola patients entry

August 3, 2014

Jeddah, Aug 3: Gulf ministries of Health have taken all health measures to prevent Ebola virus patients from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, and other African countries from entering any Gulf country, said Professor Tawfiq Ahmad Khoja, director-general of the Executive Health Office for Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

The measures are being adopted as the World Health Organization warned west Africa’s Ebola-hit nations on Friday that the epidemic was spiraling out of control and could spread to other countries, causing “catastrophic” loss of life and severe economic disruption. WHO chief Margaret Chan told the leaders of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia that the response to the epidemic had been “woefully inadequate,” revealing that the outbreak was “moving faster than our efforts to control it.”

“The disease does not constitute any fears to Gulf countries, particularly the Kingdom, which has taken precautionary measures for Umrah and Haj seasons,” said Prof. Khoja.

Gulf ministries of Health are coordinating with the WHO to prevent the spread of disease outside the places where it has spread.

The Kingdom’s ministries of Health and Haj are doing extensive coordination work globally and regionally with more emphasis on airports. “The symptoms and the incubation period are fast; therefore, it is highly unlikely that Ebola cases might reach the Kingdom.”

Lebanon too is acting to adopt a set of measures to counter the spread of Ebola. With 20,000 citizens living in three countries affected by an Ebola outbreak, Lebanon is taking a series of measures to prevent the virus reaching its shores. Health Minister Wael Abu Faour, during a tour of Beirut airport, said the ministry “has asked all airlines, particularly those bringing people from Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, to inform Lebanese authorities about anyone displaying suspicious symptoms.”

Any traveler with such symptoms would be turned over for assessment to an 18-person team of doctors and nurses posted at the airport.

The Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, called on Lebanese embassies to ensure that citizens abroad were kept informed of the outbreak, taking appropriate precautions and being given assistance if they wanted to return home.

Nearly 12,000 Lebanese citizens live in Sierra Leone, with another 6,500 in Liberia and 3,500 in Guinea, the three African nations worst affected by the Ebola outbreak.

For its part, the Labor Ministry said Friday it has suspended the delivery of work permits to residents of the three countries.

“As a result of fears about public health and to prevent an Ebola epidemic, the Labor Ministry is no longer receiving work permit requests from residents of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia,” it said.

An official at the ministry said the number of workers affected was limited and the decision was “a precautionary measure”.

There is no vaccine for the highly-contagious disease, and the current outbreak has claimed nearly 730 lives and infected more than 1,300 people since the beginning of the year. Ebola causes severe muscular pains, fever, headaches and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleeding.

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Syrian Town erupts after Israeli forces enter Beit Jinn; heavy casualties reported

News Network

November 28,2025

Several Syrians were killed and more than two dozen others injured in Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Damascus, amid intensified incursions by the occupying regime since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rule.

Syrian state TV reported that the casualties occurred during an overnight Israeli assault involving helicopters and drones on the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside. The attack followed an Israeli military unit’s entry into the town, where they were surrounded by local residents, leading to gunfire and direct confrontations.

According to the report, “The occupation army’s helicopters and artillery shelled Beit Jinn, located at the foothills of Mount Hermon, resulting in 13 martyrs and 25 injured civilians.” The broadcaster did not specify the full extent of damage.

Al-Ikhbariyah Syria confirmed that the shelling coincided with Israeli soldiers entering Beit Jinn, while artillery pounded surrounding areas. The broadcaster stated that the escalation began after local residents clashed with an Israeli patrol that had infiltrated the southern town and “kidnapped” three young men.

Following a two-hour exchange of heavy fire, Israeli forces withdrew and repositioned on the hill of Butt al-Warda at the town’s outskirts.

Israeli media acknowledged that six soldiers were wounded in the clashes—three of them seriously—describing the confrontation as a “sudden ambush” that forced the deployment of reserve units and air support to secure an exit route. No further details were provided.

The aggression has fueled renewed displacement from Beit Jinn, with residents fleeing to nearby villages amid increasingly frequent Israeli attacks.

The raid came just a day after Israeli troops carried out another ground incursion into Umm al-Luqas village in Quneitra province. According to SANA, an Israeli unit in four vehicles entered the village, raided several homes, and later withdrew.

Syria condemned the repeated incursions as violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and UN resolutions, urging the international community to enforce compliance and pressure Israel to halt its operations and withdraw fully.

Israel has expanded its attacks across Syrian territory following the collapse of the Assad government last year. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly instructed his forces to push deeper into Syrian territory and seize strategic positions.

Meanwhile, critics say the HTS-led interim government’s inaction and growing normalization gestures toward Israel have emboldened Tel Aviv to intensify its military operations. HTS, formerly linked to al-Qaeda, seized control of Damascus last December, formally ending Assad’s rule.

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