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LONDON: Qatar sent 12 tons of advanced medical equipment this week aboard an air force plane to support hospitals in the Syrian Arab Republic as Damascus recovers from over a decade of civil war.

Sidra Medicine and other Qatari organizations delivered the aid shipment as part of Doha’s Syria Abshiri humanitarian initiative, which aims to enhance the capacity of Syrian hospitals.

The shipment included ventilators, portable incubators for newborns, dialysis machines, anesthesia and imaging equipment, cardiac and oxygen monitoring systems, as well as advanced radiology and laboratory analysis devices.

Syrian Health Minister Musab Al-Ali announced that the latest aid is part of an agreement with Doha to deliver medical equipment through land and air routes. He added that 90 tons of Qatari aid have arrived so far and will be distributed to approximately 50 hospitals, the SANA news agency reported.

Yousef bin Ali Al-Khater, head of the Qatari Red Crescent, said that the Syria Abshiri initiative highlights the strong ties between the two peoples and is part of a broader effort to rehabilitate Syria’s healthcare sector.

President of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Dr. Hazem Baqleh announced that this shipment signifies the start of ongoing support efforts from Qatar, while Dr. Wael Daghmash, the director of health in Damascus, said it represents “a new hope” for both patients and medical staff, SANA added.

CHICAGO: A retired US special forces officer who worked for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation slammed Israel’s actions during a webinar attended by Arab News on Sunday.

“What’s happening in Palestine, in Gaza, in the West Bank isn’t lawful. It’s not acceptable,” said Anthony Aguilar.

“It’s not self-defense. It’s not justified in any way. And to stand by and support it, even to just stand by and turn another cheek, is wrong … That’s when evil really starts to take root is when people can hide from the truth.”

He said he witnessed how easily Israeli soldiers would shoot and kill Palestinians who lined up for food at distribution sites operated by the GHF, which is backed by Israel and the US.

Aguilar spoke of “an entire population of human beings being starved, dehumanized, displaced and killed,” and described Israel’s actions in Gaza as “inhumane.”

He was arrested on Wednesday along with former army intelligence officer Dr. Josephine Guilbeau while protesting during a Senate hearing against US complicity.

Guilbeau told the webinar that her effort to “sound the alarm” in the Senate and Congress “doesn’t come easy to me … especially as someone who served this country for over 17 years … It’s not something that I’m happy to have to do, but it’s something that I know must be done.”

She noted that there are eight American military veterans among the dozens of activists on the Global Sumud Flotilla, led by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, which is sailing to Gaza with humanitarian aid. 

Guilbeau said the flotilla protest is “something that must be done” to raise awareness of the killings in Gaza.

Lara Elborno, an international lawyer and member of the Gaza Tribunal, which is examining the UK’s role in war crimes committed in the Palestinian enclave, told the webinar: “Public opinion in support of the Palestinian liberation struggle has always been the norm in large parts of the Global South, but what’s different now is that public opinion supporting Israel and its genocide is a minority opinion in the Global North.”

She added: “The latest polls in the US are damning indictments of the fact that the genocide hasn’t been a popular policy, whether it be among Republicans or Democrats. The Israeli regime has never been as unpopular as it is in this moment.”

The webinar was organized by Lifeline for Palestine, and was led by former US presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein.