Latest news with #Beersheba
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Families of October 7 victims demand early Israeli elections
"Advancing the elections is not a political call—it is a moral call, dictated by circumstances and the urgent need to reach the truth," said Eyal Eshel, father of Roni Eshel. Early elections are needed since the current government has refused to investigate the October 7 Hamas massacre, the leaders of the October Council demanded on Tuesday. The NGO, which represents over 1,500 families of victims of the October 7 attacks, declared that it was shifting the focus of its operations from demanding a state Commission of inquiry to demanding an early election at a press conference in Beersheba. According to Eyal Eshel, father of field intelligence lookout Roni Eshel, who was killed on October 7, 'Throughout the process, the current government has been given every possible opportunity to establish a state commission of inquiry. Only when the elections are moved forward will the obstruction end, and the chances of uncovering the truth increase. 'Advancing the elections is not a political call; it is a moral call, dictated by circumstances and the urgent need to reach the truth.' The press conference was held at the Kaye Academic College of Education in Beersheba, where a number of politicians were attending the Sderot Conference on Society and Education, and coincided with the 600-day mark of the massacre, which will be reached on Wednesday. Other speakers included Osnat Peri, widow of Haim Peri of Nir Oz, who was taken hostage and died in captivity; Reut Recht-Edri, mother of Ido Edri, a Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) fighter who was killed at the Nova festival; Adi Zakuto, daughter of Avi, who was killed in Ofakim; and Yoram Yehudai, father of Ron, who was also killed at the Nova festival. In a statement accompanying the details of the press conference, the council said, 'The government has announced that it will never establish a state commission of inquiry, leaving us no choice: We are launching a campaign to bring forward the elections.' The NGO continued, 'We have spent a year trying to engage in dialogue, seeking compromises and agreements, but the government has slammed the door on us. Today, we are moving to a new phase in our struggle. If holding elections is what it takes to establish a state commission of inquiry, then we will fight to ensure elections take place. We will not accept continued cover-ups, secrecy, and obstruction of the investigation. 'If we wait until the scheduled elections in October 2026, it means that even three years after the disaster in which we lost our loved ones, there still won't be a state commission of inquiry. In the meantime, documents will be shredded, testimonies will be coordinated, and crucial information will be erased. 'Therefore, we will work to advance the elections to reduce the number of days in which the possibility of establishing a state commission is blocked,' the group said. On March 3, members of the October Council were physically barred from entering the visitors' section of the Knesset plenum to observe a discussion regarding a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 massacre. A prolonged and partially violent confrontation ensued, after which at least two members of the council required medical treatment. A state commission of inquiry is the most powerful probe in Israel's legal system and the only type of probe that operates completely independently of the political echelon. Its members are appointed by the chief justice, and it has the power to subpoena witnesses and make personal recommendations regarding individuals. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to form such a commission on the grounds that the chief justice does not enjoy public trust, and therefore, the committee's recommendations would be
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
People with chronic diseases can benefit from consulting their doctors in online visits
Recently, the Health Ministry in Jerusalem announced the promotion and implementation of telemedicine as one of its goals. Telemedicine in the treatment of chronic diseases is no less safe, accessible, and effective than a visit to the doctor, according to a study at Soroka-University Medical Center in Beersheba. According to the researchers, phone, computer, and video visits don't harm the quality of medical care, and they may even reduce hospitalizations and emergency room visits. The study, just published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research under the title 'Evaluating Clinical Outcomes and Physician Adoption of Telemedicine for Chronic Disease Management: Population-Based Retrospective Cohort Study,' found that the use of telemedicine for the management of chronic diseases leads to medical outcomes as good as face-to-face visits and doesn't elevate the rate of emergency room visits or hospitalizations, even among patients with several such conditions. Although telemedicine has demonstrated benefits in diverse clinical settings and patient populations, its implementation did not significantly accelerate until the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to its widespread adoption around the world. In addition, other factors that emerged in the last decade as contributing to the growth in the use of telemedicine included widespread high-speed Internet access, the use of mobile devices, advances in information and communication technology, and the growing adoption of electronic health records. Recently, the Health Ministry in Jerusalem announced the promotion and implementation of telemedicine as one of its goals. The study was promoted by hospital director-general Dr. Shlomi Codish. 'Understanding the effectiveness, strengths, and shortcomings of telemedicine for various chronic diseases and patient populations can inform decision makers of health care policy on how best to implement and maximize its benefits,' they wrote. This encouraged the researchers to go ahead. 'We aimed to compare the use of telemedicine for outpatient visits versus in-person visits across different medical specialties; assess its association with clinical outcomes; and examine the influence of patient and physician characteristics on telemedicine use in a large, tertiary, teaching hospital,' said Dr. Ido Peles, a medical data analyst and epidemiologist at the hospital and the chief researcher in an interview with The Jerusalem Post. The records of 32,445 Jewish and Arab adult patients who had been treated in five medical fields – psychiatry, hemato-oncology, gastroenterology, endocrinology, and nephrology between 2019 until the beginning of 2020. Telemedicine used during the period of 2019 to 2021 was the researchers' main interest, and the main outcomes were emergency department (ED) referrals and hospitalizations. The analysis used models and analyses by patient demographic characteristics, chronic disease medical fields, and the characteristics of the doctors. 'Fully 75% of those using telemedicine were in touch by phone, and the rest by their computer or phone. We have a large Bedouin population, however, and telemedicine is less used by them,' Peles added. 'It won't replace doctors or coming to the clinic; it's an extra tool that especially benefits those living in the periphery and those who have a difficult time reaching the clinic. Such patients need not fear that they aren't getting good medical treatment if they don't see their doctors in person. Physicians are getting more skilled in telemedicine, and this benefits the patient. Telemedicine techniques are not taught in medical schools, but when students go to hospitals for clinical work, they see doctors using the tool to check up on patients who are at home. 'It would be a good idea for it to be included in medical school curricula,' suggested Peles, who, with his team, spent three years on the study and wants to do another one in about a year. In 2019, a total of 99.6% (83,000) of visits were in person, and by 2020 to 2021, a total of 22.6% of patients had used telemedicine. Those who were followed up by telemedicine were slightly older and with more chronic illnesses than in-person patients or patients who did not visit their doctors during that time. Peles and his team found no evidence of worsening outcomes for telemedicine users relative to in-person care. Health care providers with higher telemedicine use even had reduced rates of emergency department referrals (and hospitalizations than providers with lower telemedicine use. The development of telemedicine over the years has been remarkable, the team said. 'In the US, telemedicine adoption in hospitals rose from 46% in 2017 to 72% in 2021, driven primarily by larger teaching hospitals leading the transformation. In China, for example, a regional telemedicine platform experienced substantial growth in remote consultations, providing critical benefits to underserved regions and older adults. These trends reflect a broader recognition of telemedicine's potential to revolutionize health care delivery. 'The American College of Cardiology and other medical societies have declared that telemedicine not only improves access to care but also enhances patient satisfaction, reduces manpower requirements, and fosters equity in health care delivery. Nevertheless, alongside the potential benefits of telemedicine, there are challenges, including the lack of a physical examination, which is an inherent part of the visit and diagnosis.' The researchers stressed that telemedicine should be tailored to the individual needs of patients and physicians and consider the nature of the patient's disease. Although the timing of infectious pandemics is unpredictable, their recurrence is likely, they concluded. 'It is evident that telemedicine has a critical role in emergency responses, underscoring its importance. Our findings emphasize the importance of integrating telemedicine into health care systems and policies to ensure consistent patient outcomes across various situations and optimize health care resource allocation. Sign up for the Health & Wellness newsletter >>
Al Jazeera
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
From 1948 to now, a Nakba that never ended
On May 15, 1948, my grandfather Saeed was just six years old when Zionist militias attacked his village in Beersheba, forcing his family to flee. His mother carried him as they escaped the horror of explosions and shelling. The nearest refuge was Gaza City. They arrived expecting to stay in makeshift tents for a few days, certain they would soon return to their homes and fertile lands. They did not know then that their temporary stay would stretch into decades – that the tents would become permanent concrete shelters. The house keys they clung to would rust, transforming into symbols of a right of return passed down through generations – 77 years and counting. For most of my life, the Nakba lived in the past, a tragedy I inherited through my grandfather's stories. But since 2023, I have lived my own Nakba in Gaza – this time in real time, under the lens of smartphone cameras and television screens. The militias that once expelled my grandfather have become a state with one of the world's most advanced armies, wielding deadly weapons against a besieged civilian population demanding only freedom and dignity. In October 2023, Israel launched a campaign of forced displacement that eerily echoed what my grandfather had endured. Residents of northern Gaza were ordered to evacuate to the south – only for those areas to be bombed as well. Entire families walked for hours, barefoot, carrying only what they could. Once again, people found themselves in tents – this time made not of plastic but of scraps, cloth and whatever could shield them from the harsh sun or bitter cold. We faced death without bullets. Newborns died of cold and dehydration. Diseases the world had nearly eradicated like polio and malaria returned due to unsanitary conditions. Israel tightened its blockade, preventing food, medicine and basic essentials from entering. According to the World Food Programme, 96 percent of Gaza's population now suffers from food shortages, ranging from moderate to catastrophic. The World Health Organization has confirmed at least 32 deaths from malnutrition among children under five and warns that the toll will rise. We now live as our grandparents once did: no electricity, no running water, cooking over firewood or in clay ovens. Smoke fills the air and clogs the lungs of mothers while children sleep with empty stomachs. Donkey carts have replaced cars – destroyed or rendered useless by fuel shortages. The occupation has stripped us not only of our land but also of the very basics of life. My grandfather who witnessed the first Nakba did not survive a second one. After a year of suffering, hunger and the absence of medical care, he passed away in October. He had lost half his body weight in a matter of months. His once-strong frame – he had been a proud athlete – was reduced to skin and bone. In his final days, he lay bedridden, silently enduring strokes and pain with no medicine, no proper food and no relief. I still remember our final embrace on October 11. It was a silent farewell. A tear slipped down the wrinkled cheek of a man who had witnessed too many wars and buried too many dreams. That tear said what words never could: it was time to go. And I ask myself: Would he have survived had there been no war? Could his last months have been filled with care instead of hunger? As if all this were not enough, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has openly called for the displacement of two million Palestinians from Gaza. His rhetoric only confirms decades-old Israeli plans, now receiving full backing from the United States. One such plan is cloaked in the language of 'voluntary migration', but the reality is far from voluntary. Life in Gaza has been made unliveable. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, as of July 1, 85 percent of Gaza's health facilities had been destroyed or damaged, including 32 of 36 hospitals. The education sector is equally devastated: UNICEF reports that 80 percent of Gaza's schools and universities are no longer functional and at least 94 academics have been killed. The assault extends even to UNRWA, the UN agency that has supported Palestinian refugees since the original Nakba. Israel's parliament has banned its operations in Palestinian territory while also bombing food warehouses and pressuring donor countries to cut funding. Why? Because UNRWA's existence reminds the world of the refugees' legal right of return. Israel wants that memory – and all physical traces of it – erased. Entire refugee camps, symbols of that right, have been flattened by bombs. Camps like Jabalia and Shati in the north and Khan Younis and Rafah in the south have been turned into mass graves. Once home to generations of dreams and defiance, these camps now cradle only the bones of those who refused to leave. So I ask again: Will my grandfather's dream of returning to his land ever be realised? Or will history continue to turn its cruel wheel, spinning new chapters of exile and suffering? And will I one day tell my own children about our Nakba and our dreams of return – just as my grandfather once told me his?
The National
09-05-2025
- The National
Trauma of a teenage prisoner: Ahmad Manasra's ordeal goes on despite release from Israeli jail
Arrested aged 13 and held in an Israeli prison for nearly a decade, Ahmad Manasra's ordeal did not end with his release a month ago. First, the young Palestinian's family waited for hours at the main gate of Al Nafha Prison, only to find authorities had deposited him about 50 kilometres away in Beersheba. 'Eventually, someone did find him and help him," Mr Manasra's lawyer since 2021, Khaled Zabarka, told The National. "He called his parents because he had his father's number memorised and they came to him. Otherwise, a disaster might have happened." Next, after picking him up, Mr Manasra's family received a phone call from Maskubiyeh police station in Jerusalem, asking he be brought back for questioning, 'part of the constant pursuit of Ahmad", Mr Zabarka said. Mr Manasra now experiences severe psychological issues after years of isolation, his lawyers told The National. In 2015, he was arrested after entering East Jerusalem with his cousin Hassan, 15, while carrying knives. Hassan was shot dead by police after he stabbed an Israeli man and critically wounded a 13-year-old Israeli boy. Ahmad was convicted of attempted murder and served nine and a half years in prison. Moaad Abu Irsheid, another lawyer for Mr Manasra, was present for the round of questioning after his release. He said it was an attempt by Israeli authorities to 'reopen wounds'. Conditions were put on his release, such as "no hosting celebrations, forming crowds, or raising flags, and being on house arrest until Sunday, and now he's with his parents', Mr Abu Irsheid said. 'He was nervous, and so were his family, and the fact that he was called in for questioning after nine and a half years of being in prison is not normal. He finished his sentence, why would they call him back? I don't find that normal or lawful.' The lawyer explained that although the police have the authority to call anyone in for questioning, they did so without any precedent or suspected crime. And if Mr Manasra refused to co-operate with the questioning or to abide by the set conditions, he would have spent another night in prison and faced court. 'He was scared. He told me he wanted to go home, to go to his bed, and that he misses freedom. He doesn't exactly understand it well, either, because he's not in good shape mentally." Since the start of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023, about 10,000 Palestinians have been taken into Israeli custody. Some are unable to reach their families or have any outside contact without their lawyers. After Mr Manasra was detained in 2015, he was investigated by Israeli authorities and was sent to prison a year later, still a juvenile. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined 180,000 shekels ($47,900) as his case was classified as "terrorism" by the Israeli Supreme Court. However, the sentence was reduced to nine and a half years in 2017. Mr Zabarka attempted to reduce Mr Manasra's prison sentence again in 2021 but was unsuccessful. 'We had a lot of hope they would [comply] because he entered prison as a 13-year-old child, and we thought, a child that was in seventh grade … they must reduce his sentence by a third and treat him legally how they would treat minors, as per juvenile law,' Mr Zabarka said. Under an amendment to Israel's terrorism laws in 2019, it became obligatory to prohibit anyone involved in national security violations from a reduction of a third of their sentence. But under juvenile law the authorities "should have rehabilitated him instead of punishing him', Mr Zabarka added. As a last resort, Mr Zabarka addressed the case to the supreme court but the appeal was rejected again. While Israel's juvenile law is aimed at protecting minors, Mr Manasra was the exception, which led to his 'health relapse', said Mr Zabarka. Banned from contacting his family and having no support system for so long have adversely affected his mental health. 'He was going through all these tough situations with the mindset of a child. How much can a child handle? It is impossible for a child to handle this.' Mr Manasra's psychological problems were heavily influenced and exacerbated by the period he spent in solitary confinement, his lawyers said. When Mr Zabarka's attempt at reducing the prison sentence failed, he tried to reason with Israeli authorities on keeping Mr Manasra away from solitary confinement to salvage his mental state. 'We were against it, but [the prison authorities] said they were putting him there on the pretext that he was mentally ill to protect him from himself and protect other detainees from him,' Mr Zabarka said. Mr Manasra's family requested he be put in a room with other Palestinian prisoners who would be 'ready to take care of him and protect him', and provided reports from mental health specialists that said solitary confinement would 'exacerbate his psychological condition and make his illness more difficult to deal with', said Mr Zabarka. Yet their requests were denied again. 'A mentally ill person, especially a child, should be put in a place where there is social support, he needs social warmth and medication. But their aim was to torture him even more.' When Mr Zabarka visited his client in prison at one of his all-time lows, Mr Manasra expressed thoughts of ending his life and the lack of purpose he feels. 'Putting a prisoner in solitary confinement is one of the methods of torture prohibited by law,' said Mr Zabarka. "This is a protocol of torture and a practice of torture on Ahmad Manasra. He has been exposed to torture from the moment he was detained until he was freed from prison."
