Thousands of people rallied on Wednesday in Iran's capital Tehran to commemorate assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, condemning Israel and the United States for sabotaging regional peace.
Nasrallah and several other commanders of Hezbollah, a Lebanese armed group and a political party, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the capital city of Beirut on Friday.
Carrying flags of Iran and Palestine, along with Hezbollah flags and posters of Nasrallah, the protesters accused the United States of fully supporting Israel in committing a series of war crimes in the Middle East, terming the U.S. claims of maintaining regional peace as blatant lies.
"The United States has claimed that its goal is to establish peace in the region, but it's clearly lying. The main obstacle to achieving a ceasefire is the United States and Israel," said Mehdi, a local.
"The United States has proven that it constantly creates crises in other countries. The United States has never played any positive role other than causing pain and suffering to other countries," said Ali, another local.
The protesters said that the United States and some other Western countries are adopting double standards and exercising hegemonic behavior for, on one hand, "taking sides" in the Palestine-Israel conflict and fully supporting Israel's military actions, while on the other hand, they are claiming to uphold regional peace.
They argued that only when these troublemakers leave the region, can true stability and security be achieved.
Since Sept 23, Israel has launched massive airstrikes against what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon.
The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.
Thousands rally in Iranian capital to commemorate assassinated Hezbollah leader
Thousands rally in Iranian capital to commemorate assassinated Hezbollah leader
The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy hospital ship "Peace Ark", which is on the Mission Harmony-2024, on Wednesday completed its week-long mission in Gabon, the eighth stop of its journey.
The "Peace Ark" arrived in the central African country on Sept 26 and started to provide free medical service for the Gabonese people since then.
Gabonese Minister of the Interior Hermann Immongault and the Chinese Ambassador to Gabon Zhou Ping were the first to board the hospital ship.
The mission has aroused the enthusiasm of the Gabonese people.
"As you know, when you see a sick person, for a mother, you can imagine the suffering. So I'm happy coming here and seeing a highly qualified doctor. You know that China is one of the oldest civilizations in the world and in terms of medicine, they are very advanced. So we are delighted to meet the doctor. The doctor saw my child and gave a diagnosis. As for the rest, we're very happy," said Moussounda Erica, a mother of a young patient.
The medical mission of the "Peace Ark" highlighted the high demand among the Gabonese people for medical care in the field of general medicine, particularly in ophthalmology, maxillofacial surgery and joint pain, which are more common among many elderly people.
I've felt the effectiveness of Chinese medicine. It doesn't just start today. I've seen their products and they've saved a lot of people. Compared to Western medicine, it's closer to African medicine," said Mimioghe Edouard, a Gabonese patient.
Both Chinese volunteers living in Gabon and Gabonese volunteers who speak French and Mandarin supported the nursing staff by helping to detect pathologies and provide appropriate care.
"This is a major mission that sends out a very strong signal. As here in Gabon, we have a lot of problems with medical cover and doctors, too. I think it's a very commendable action, which we appreciate, and I hope that in the future they will always come to help us," said Ovono Nkomo, a Gabonese doctor.
The "Peace Ark" set sail from a military port in Zhoushan in east China's Zhejiang Province in mid of June for the Mission Harmony-2024.
During the mission, the ship will visit 13 countries and provide medical service to local people. It will also make port calls to France and Greece.
This is the 10th Mission Harmony for the "Peace Ark" since its commissioning in 2008.
There are over 100 personnel on board the maritime hospital, featuring 17 clinical departments and 5 auxiliary diagnostic departments.
The "Peace Ark" is the first domestically designed and constructed standard ocean-going hospital ship in China.
This is the second time the hospital ship has docked at the port of Owendo, south of Gabon's capital city Libreville. After Gabon, it will sail for the western African country of Cameroon.
Chinese naval hospital ship "Peace Ark" completes mission in Gabon
