Mamata visits protest site, urges medics to resume work; will not compromise, say protestors
Kolkata (PTI): Amid the continuing impasse, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday made a surprise visit to the site where the junior doctors were protesting, and assured them that she would look into their demands and take action if anyone was found guilty.
Addressing the protesting doctors amid chants of 'we want justice' outside the Swasthya Bhawan in Salt Lake, Banerjee said she would not take any steps against them as she did not believe in suppressing a democratic movement. "Bengal is not Uttar Pradesh," she said.
However, after she left the site, the agitating doctors said they were not ready to compromise on their demands till discussions were held, indicating no immediate breakthrough in the impasse.
Accompanied by DGP Rajiv Kumar, Banerjee reached the site in Sector 5 around 1 pm, taking those present there by surprise.
She said she was spending sleepless nights as the medics were agitating on the road amid rains.
"I came to meet you as your 'didi' (elder sister) not as the chief minister," she said.
"I assure you that I will study your demands and take action if someone is found guilty," she added, urging the protesting doctors to return to work.
She also announced that patient welfare committees of all state-run hospitals were dissolved with immediate effect.
"This is my last attempt to resolve the crisis," Banerjee said.
The medics have been camping outside Swasthya Bhawan, the headquarters of the state Health Department, since Tuesday with a host of demands, including better security at state-run hospitals and the removal of top officials over the rape and murder of the doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The junior doctors have been protesting for over a month, affecting the public healthcare infrastructure of the state. The government claimed that 29 people have died due to the protests allegedly after not receiving treatment.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
