OCCUPIED WEST BANK  –  In his 25 years as a paramedic, Jawdat al-Muhtaseb has worked during fraught times, from the second Intifada to the heightened tensions in 2015 and then to the current situation, where the ripple effect of Israel’s war on Gaza led to an increase in deadly Israeli violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

 The 46-year-old Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) medic has been shot three times but it is the images he sees every night on his television from Gaza that have been hardest to deal with psychologically.

 Tension continues to rise in the West Bank, where at least 433 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war on Gaza on October 7, including more than 116 children, mostly as a result of Israeli raids. And al-Muhtaseb cannot escape the thought that the devastation he sees in Gaza will soon be the reality where he is.

 His family is just as worried.

al-Muhtaseb’s eldest child, eight-year-old Muhammad, asks if they will ever be in a situation where al-Muhtaseb will have to rescue them from their bombed-out home, like the images he sees from Gaza. Six-year-old Saba asks al-Muhtaseb what his reaction would be if he saw her and her two siblings dead. “I haven’t found the answers yet, and I can’t comprehend their questions,” al-Muhtaseb tells Al Jazeera from a PRCS facility in Hebron. “But despite these difficulties and the extremely difficult psychological conditions, I’ve accepted [the situation] we work in, and I’m proud of the humanitarian mission we are accomplishing.”

 PRCS paramedics work around the clock providing services to Palestinians. They deal with everything from traffic accidents to Israeli army and settler attacks.

 One of al-Muhtaseb’s colleagues, 42-year-old Lina Amro, is a mother of five and has been working for the PRCS for 15 years. She describes her typical day – preparing her children for school, then heading to work, putting on her uniform and preparing her first aid kit before waiting for the calls to come in.

 But since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, the job has gotten harder. The Israeli military has increased the number of road closures for Palestinians across the West Bank, making waiting times much longer for al-Muhtaseb and Amro and sometimes preventing them from being able to reach the casualties in time to save them.

 “Fear and dread have increased because of the many dangers that surround us and the difficulties and obstacles we face during our work due to the barriers and restrictions we face,” Amro tells Al Jazeera.

 Those restrictions, which Israel says are necessary for security reasons, have forced the paramedics to look for alternatives – but that can lead to problems.

 “The entrances to cities are closed at night, so when there is someone who needs to reach a hospital, we use a handover method at the checkpoint,” al-Muhtaseb says, describing how ambulances park on either side of the checkpoint and then paramedics carrying the patient walk across to hand them over rather than try to cross with the vehicle.

 “This is risky and stopping us from approaching the checkpoints, as well as the death threats and the shots fired towards us, prevent us from being able to bring the patient [to hospital] promptly,” al-Muhtaseb explains. “In some instances, it took 75 instead of 10 minutes, which is dangerous for the patient … We need every minute we can get to save someone’s life.”

 Al-Muhtaseb says the danger for paramedics is increasing, particularly in light of the killings of more than 350 medical workers by Israel in Gaza and repeated attacks on hospitals.

“The Israeli army targets every Palestinian … even though we are protected as an organisation by international humanitarian law,” al-Muhtaseb says, pointing to the killing of two PRCS paramedics in Gaza who were sent to rescue six-year-old Hind Rajab who called pleading for help after the Israeli army killed all the family members in a car with her.

“Coordination was under way with the Red Cross to ensure that the ambulance would arrive at the child’s location, and when the message arrived permitting the ambulance crews to proceed, our colleagues headed to the location,” al-Muhtaseb recounts.

“Within less than half an hour, communication with the colleagues inside the vehicle was cut off, and for 12 days, we were not allowed to advance towards the location, and we were unable to get any information [about what had happened].”

(Al Jazeera)…[+]

BEIJING – Beijing Municipality will continue to leverage its strategic role as the national capital and speed up high-quality development, local authorities said.

 Over the years, Beijing has made substantial progress on technological innovation, improving the business environment and urban governance, among other areas, said the city’s mayor Yin Yong at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office.

 Adhering to its general development plan, efforts will be made to relieve Beijing of functions non-essential to its role as the national capital, and support the building of Xiong’an New Area, while advancing the high-quality development of the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center.

 Steps will be taken to strengthen the metropolis’ role as an international center for innovation in science and technology, and advance green and low-carbon development by optimizing the energy structure and scaling up the green electricity supply to 25 percent of the city’s total.

 Beijing will also accelerate the construction of the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening up the Services Sector and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone, and will roll out more preferential policies for enterprises.

More will be done to ensure and improve people’s well-being, Yin said, adding that the city will step up transportation management, aiming to increase the proportion of green transport in its central districts to 75 percent.

(Xinhua)…[+]

CARACAS – Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab presented new evidence of a foiled plot hatched in the northeast state of Monagas to overthrow the government. According to William Saab, the details of the conspiracy came to light after two suspects were arrested for posting threats against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on social media during his visit to the Monagas city of Maturin on March 11. The suspects, Renzo Flores and Whillfer Pina, have been accused of conspiracy and attempted homicide. Flores admitted to investigators that the plan was to convince 50 military “deserters” to seize a tank and weapons cache from a military compound, said the Attorney General, adding “the military compound that was intended to be taken is Fort Paramaconi” in Maturin. Evidence obtained from Pina’s mobile phone showed Maturin’s former opposition mayor, Warner Jimenez, was cooperating with the suspects, he added.

 (Xinhua)…[+]

JAPAN  –  Eight sailors have died after a South Korean-flagged tanker overturned off the west coast of Japan.

One other person was found in a non-life-threatening condition while two others remain missing, Japan’s coast guard said.

The Keoyoung Sun capsized off Yamaguchi prefecture after the crew radioed for help around 07:00 yesterday.

The search is still on for another two sailors who were on board.

The ship was reportedly at anchor because of stormy weather. The coast guard said it was carrying 980 tonnes of acrylic acid.

 The rescue operation has been taking place close to the city of Shimonoseki in the country’s south-west. The Japanese coast guard reports that the crew consists of two Koreans, eight Indonesians and one Chinese citizen.

 Winds measuring up to 54km (33 miles) per hour were measured in the area  yesterday.

 (BBC)…[+]