Latest news with #Al-Najjar
Iraqi News
3 hours ago
- Business
- Iraqi News
Iraq signs $200 million deal with British firm to build baby formula plant
Baghdad ( – The Iraq Development Fund and Britain-based Agrium Capital signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Monday to set up the first modern baby formula plant in Iraq. During a ceremony held in Baghdad to sign the MoU, director of the Iraq Development Fund, Mohammed Al-Najjar, stated that the step is critical for the future of Iraqi youth, as Iraq sees an annual growth in the number of births that exceeds one million children, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported. Many imported brands of baby formula have little nutritional content; thus, this initiative is essential for the health of Iraqi infants and future generations, according to Al-Najjar. The Iraqi official explained that the plant will be built in Iraq and will use locally produced raw materials, such as milk, to manufacture premium branded baby formula with excellent nutritional content. Al-Najjar illustrated that Iraq not only relies on imported infant formula but also lacks a comprehensive mechanism for verifying its quality. Having a facility inside the country allows Iraqis to derive economic benefits from the country's cattle while also ensuring excellent quality control. Agrium Capital works on projects in many countries. The firm employs roughly 3,000 people and has considerable experience in producing infant formula, thanks to its various specialized plants across the world. With a capital investment of more than $200 million, the factory is intended to be extremely sophisticated. It is expected to have a manufacturing capacity of up to 25,000 tons, which is sufficient to meet 80 to 85 percent of the Iraqi market's requirements.
Iraqi News
12 hours ago
- Business
- Iraqi News
Iraq and Japan Sign Memorandum of Understanding to Support Investment
The Executive Director of the Iraq Development Fund, Mohammed Al-Najjar, announced on Monday the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japan titled 'Logistical Cooperation to Support Investment.' Al-Najjar told the Iraqi News Agency (INA) 'A memorandum of understanding was signed with the Japanese delegation under the title 'Logistical Cooperation to Support Investment.' This agreement is historic in that it transitions the Iraqi-Japanese relationship from a government-to-government framework to one involving the private sector.' He also expressed his gratitude to the Japanese side for their support over the past 20 years through various projects and loans. He added that 'the Japanese experience in Iraq is not merely technological, but a human one,' affirming that 'this agreement is historic and will open unprecedented horizons. It will establish two centers, one in Japan representing the fund, and another in Iraq representing the Japanese institution.' He continued 'We are working at a rapid pace. This agreement forms an Iraqi-Japanese platform that will unlock major opportunities in areas such as agency representation, training, and broader cooperation.'
Leaders
3 days ago
- Health
- Leaders
Algeria's Representative to UN Highlights Gaza Doctor's Tragedy of Losing 9 Children
Algeria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ammar Bendjama, spoked about Israel's horrific incidents in Gaza before the UN Security Council, according to Algerian media. During his speech, Bendjama highlighted the tragedy of Palestinian doctor Alaa Al-Najjar, who lost nine of her children in an Israeli attack on her home in Gaza. Al-Najjar, a pediatrician at Al Tahrir Clinic in the Nasser Medical Complex, was doing her work and treating patients while Israel bombed her home at the south of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. She was shocked when she found her own children and husband brought into the hospital. Dr Hamdi Al-Najjar, is suffering serious injuries. Her children – the eldest aged 13 and the youngest just six months – were severely burned in the bombing. Currently, her husband, Dr Hamdi Al-Najjar, is suffering serious injuries and still in the intensive care. Al-Najjar's children Seven children were recovered and transferred to Nasser hospital, while two others, including the six-month-old baby, remain trapped beneath the rubble, according to Civil defense teams. Al-Najjar's children Their names are Yahya, Rakan, Ruslan, Jubran, Eve, Revan, Sayden, Luqman and Sidra. Al-Najjar's children Since the beginning of Hamas-Israel War in Gaza in 2023, the Israeli strikes have killed at least 53,500 Palestinians and wounded more than 118,000, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Al-Najjar's children Related Topics: France May Toughen Stance on Israel Over Gaza Aid Blockage Israel Accepts Witkoff's New Gaza Ceasefire Proposal: Netanyahu Hamas Agrees to US Proposal for Gaza, Israel Rejects Short link : Post Views: 48
Days of Palestine
4 days ago
- Health
- Days of Palestine
Gaza's Children Trapped Between Hunger, Bombs, and Silence
DaysofPal — In a land soaked in blood and confined by siege, childhood has become a sentence punished with death. Gaza's children are haunted by three specters: hunger, bombing, and fear. Here, they do not choose how they die—death chooses them. Some perish from malnutrition, others are buried beneath rubble, while the rest live in anxious anticipation of the next terror, the next missed meal, or the next explosion. Another bloodstained morning was added to Gaza's memory. UNICEF reported that nine children from the Al-Najjar family were killed in an Israeli airstrike that obliterated their home in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. The only surviving child was critically injured, pulled from the rubble after hours of struggling beneath the debris, fighting both physical pain and terror. 'To die in your sleep, in your mother's arms—not as a fighter, but simply as a Palestinian child—that's what happened to the Al-Najjar children,' said a paramedic who helped recover their bodies. Edward Begbeder, UNICEF's Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, described the strike as 'a horror beyond imagination,' adding that targeting children in such a manner could constitute a crime of genocide. Since October 2023, over 50,000 children in Gaza have been killed or wounded. Following the collapse of the truce in March, 1,309 more children have died. Aid groups now warn that the collapse of the healthcare and humanitarian systems has left survivors to face constant threats of hunger and disease. Inside overcrowded shelters, new chapters of suffering unfold. In one such center in western Gaza City, Asim Salah (37) lies beside his three-year-old daughter. 'Her weight drops every day,' he says. 'She suffers from severe malnutrition. I am helpless—no food, no medicine, not even clean water. Watching her waste away is like burying her slowly.' In another makeshift shelter, Abdullah Al-Rifi (35) lives with his wife and children after an airstrike destroyed their home. 'My six-year-old looks like a ghost with [pale face, sunken eyes, weak body. We can't even find basic food. I can't give him a meal he once took for granted.' Mohamed Hassouna (45), a father of six, lost his home and now lives in a shelter in western Gaza. 'My youngest, just four, is always sick. No milk. No medicine. Hunger and fear have consumed them. They flinch at every sound. Even sleep is a luxury.' UNICEF's statistics are grim. Over one million children have been besieged for more than two months, without adequate food or water. Supplementary food is depleted. Only enough formula remains for 400 infants, while more than 10,000 require it. Families are forced to mix formula with contaminated water, leading to infections that are often fatal. Water and sanitation systems are collapsing. The main desalination plant has been shut down, resulting in an 85% reduction in the water supply. Per capita drinking water has dropped from 16 liters to under six, with fears it could fall to four. Disease outbreaks are becoming increasingly likely. Nutrition treatment centers have shuttered. Of the 21 that once cared for at least 350 children, none remain functional. UNICEF warns that famine is imminent, and the situation has 'utterly collapsed.' But the horror is not just in the numbers—it's in the silence. 'The children of Gaza need more than food and water,' said a UNICEF spokesperson. 'They need safety. They need justice.' UNICEF calls on the international community to act immediately, not with cautious condemnations, but with urgent, decisive measures. In Gaza, children are not living their childhoods. They are surviving a war. Some are under rubble. Others are wasting away from hunger. Fear grips them every night. Their eyes scan the skies, waiting for the next missile, the next stolen meal, the next goodbye. If the world remains silent, it becomes complicit. Gaza's children cry not just for bread, but for a future. Shortlink for this post:
Los Angeles Times
25-05-2025
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
Israel's latest strikes in Gaza kill at least 38 people, including children
DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes over the last 24 hours killed at least 38 people in the Gaza Strip, including a mother and her two children sheltering in a tent, local health officials said Sunday, with no data available for a second straight day from now-inaccessible hospitals in the north. Gaza's Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed in the territory since Israel ended a ceasefire and renewed its offensive in March, vowing to destroy Hamas and return the 58 hostages it still holds from the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. Israel also blocked the import of all food, medicine and fuel for 2½ months before letting a trickle of aid enter last week, after experts' warnings of famine and pressure from some of Israel's top allies. Israel has been pursuing a new plan to tightly control all aid to Gaza, which the United Nations has rejected. Israel also says it plans to seize full control of Gaza and facilitate what it describes as the voluntary migration of much of its population of more than 2 million Palestinians, a plan rejected by Palestinians and much of the international community. Experts say it would probably violate international law. The new strike on the tent housing displaced people that killed the mother and children occurred in the central city of Deir al Balah, according to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. A strike in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza killed at least five, including two women and a child, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Meanwhile, further details emerged of the local doctor who lost nine of her 10 children in an Israeli strike on Friday. Only one of pediatrician Alaa al-Najjar's 10 children survived the Israeli strike on their home Friday near the southern city of Khan Yunis. The 11-year-old boy and Al-Najjar's husband, also a doctor, were badly hurt. The charred remains of the other children were brought to the morgue in a single body bag, said a fellow pediatrician at Nasser Hospital, Alaa al-Zayan. The home was struck minutes after Hamdi al-Najjar had driven his wife to the hospital. His brother Ismail al-Najjar was first to arrive at the scene. 'They were innocent children,' the brother said, with the youngest 7 months old. 'And my brother has no business with [Palestinian] factions.' Israel on Saturday said that 'the claim regarding harm to uninvolved civilians is under review.' It says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because it operates in densely populated areas. There was no immediate comment from the military on the latest strikes. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 people. Around a third of the remaining hostages are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's 19-month offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which says women and children make up most of the dead. It does not provide figures for the number of civilians or combatants killed. The offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the territory's population, often multiple times. Separately, Israel's military said it intercepted a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Sunday. It triggered air raid sirens in Jerusalem and other areas. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The Iran-backed Houthis have launched repeated missile attacks targeting Israel as well as international shipping in the Red Sea, portraying it as a response to Israel's military campaign in Gaza. Most of the targeted ships had no relation to Israel or the conflict. The United States halted a punishing bombing campaign against the Houthis this month, saying the rebels had pledged to stop attacking ships. That informal ceasefire did not include attacks on Israel. Shurafa and Magdy write for the Associated Press and reported from Deir al Balah and Cairo, respectively.
