Hundreds march in West Bank against killings of medics
RAMALLAH: Hundreds of Palestinian Red Crescent staff marched in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday to protest the Zionist entity's killing of medical workers in Gaza over the past 19 months of war. Gathering in the city's Clock Square, medical personnel, support staff and volunteers wore white and orange vests and waved flags bearing the Red Crescent's emblem.
The demonstration marked World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, usually observed on May 8, and called for the 'protection for medical and humanitarian workers'. In a statement released Monday, the Red Crescent said 48 of their staff members have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank since October 7, 2023 — including 30 who died while performing their duties.
Protesters carried symbolic white shrouds bearing the names and pictures of the dead, as well as signs demanding the release of three staff members who have been detained by the Zionist entity military for over a year. Some 1,400 humanitarian and medical workers have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war and dozens of medical personnel working in Gaza were detained while performing their humanitarian duties, ,according to the statement.
It highlighted a particularly deadly attack in March in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, when the Zionist entity forces killed 15 first responders including eight Red Crescent paramedics. The first responders were answering distress calls after Zionist air strikes. The incident drew international condemnation, including concern about possible war crimes from UN human rights commissioner Volker Turk. A Zionist entity military investigation, the results of which were published, acknowledged 'professional failures' and 'violations of orders' during the shooting. — AFP
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Financial markets are holding their breath to see whether oil prices surge further when trading resumes on Monday after the weekend, with potentially punishing consequences for the global economy, or settle down on hopes that Gulf exports will escape relatively unscathed. Oil prices already shot up by 9 percent on Friday before the Zionist entity had struck any Iranian oil and gas targets. Long lines snaked around gas stations as most businesses remained closed, while the head of Tehran's traffic police told the IRNA news agency that 'heavy traffic was reported at the capital's exit points'. Some residents, however, were determined to stay put. 'It is natural that war has its own stress, but I will not leave my city,' Shokouh Razzazi, 31, told AFP. The Zionist entity said its forces had struck the defense ministry headquarters in Tehran, where Iranian news agency Tasnim reported damage. 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Trump had earlier said the US had no role in Israel's attack and warned Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include US targets. The US military has helped shoot down Iranian missiles that were headed towards the Zionist entity, two US officials said on Friday. Since Saturday, the Zionist entity has hit the oil depot in Tehran and facilities at Iran's huge South Fars gas field, the world's largest, which produces gas for domestic consumption. Iran said the situation at the burning Shahran oil depot in the capital was under control. It told citizens to seek shelter in mosques, schools and subways. – Agencies
