Latest news with #MEE
Middle East Eye
an hour ago
- Health
- Middle East Eye
Alaa Abd el-Fattah's mother at risk of ‘sudden death', doctor says
The mother of British-Egyptian prisoner Alaa Abd el-Fattah is facing the risk of 'sudden death' as her blood sugar level falls to dangerously low levels on the 244th day of her hunger strike. Laila Soueif, who began her hunger strike in protest at her son's continued imprisonment by the Egyptian authorities, was warned by doctors on Friday that even a 'slight further reduction' in her blood sugar could result in a 'rapid loss of consciousness' and 'sudden death'. Abd el-Fattah was a key figure in the 2011 Egyptian revolution that ousted then-president Hosni Mubarak and has spent the best part of a decade behind bars. On 29 September 2024, Abd el-Fattah was due to complete a five-year sentence for 'spreading false news', but the authorities failed to release him, refusing to count the two years he spent in pre-trial detention towards his sentence. Sine then, Soueif has not consumed any food. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Medical tests conducted at hospital revealed that Soueif's blood sugar dropped below 0.6 mmol/L on Thursday night – a level too low to be accurately measured. At the same time, her ketone levels, which indicate blood acidity, exceeded 7 mmol/L, suggesting a degree of acidosis that is also beyond the limits of medical detection. Since beginning her strike, the 69-year-old has lost 36kg – approximately 42 percent of her body weight – and now weighs just 49kg. Soueif's doctor has described her condition as a 'medical emergency' and warned that her death is an 'immediate risk'. The doctor added that, without urgent glucose treatment, she faces a 'clear risk' of irreversible damage to vital organs, including the heart, brain, and kidneys. The doctor further explained that Soueif's current blood sugar level is 'not typically compatible with consciousness,' and that her 'body's carbohydrate stores are essentially depleted'. They added that her body is now relying on its last reserves of fat to survive. 'We're losing her' British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has repeatedly expressed his personal commitment to securing the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah. Soueif shifted to a partial hunger strike on 28 February, following a call between Starmer and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, during which the prime minister reportedly 'pressed' Sisi to release Abd el-Fattah. But little has shifted since then. On 20 May, Soueif announced she would be stopping her intake of 300 calories a day. However, little progress has been made since. On 20 May, Soueif announced that she would cease consuming the 300 calories per day she had been allowing herself. 'Bottom line is we're losing her… there is no time. Keir Starmer needs to act now. Not tomorrow, not Monday. Now. Right now,' Soueif's daughter Sanaa Seif said in a press briefing outside St Thomas's hospital in London. 'It's a miracle that last night passed. It's a miracle that we still have her. I'm really, really proud of my Mum. And I want to remind Keir Starmer of his promise to us. We put our faith in him. Don't let us down, do something and do it today. Now.' Meanwhile, Abd el-Fattah has now reached the 92nd day of his own hunger strike from Wadi El-Natrun prison. On 12 April, he fell seriously ill, experiencing vomiting, severe stomach pain and dizziness. On Wednesday, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) concluded that Abd el-Fattah's continued imprisonment is unlawful, and that he should be released immediately under international law.
Middle East Eye
6 hours ago
- General
- Middle East Eye
Palestinian woman buries husband alone after two months trapped under Israeli siege
In a garden in southern Gaza under Israeli attacks, Aziza Qishta dug a grave with her bare hands. With no shroud, the 65-year-old Palestinian wrapped her husband's body in a window curtain and buried him alone. Ibrahim Qishta, 70, had died after being struck in the neck by shrapnel during Israel's military incursion into Rafah earlier this year. For two months, the couple remained trapped in their home in Khirbet al-Adas, surviving off dwindling supplies as air strikes and shelling pounded the city. When neighbours fled, Ibrahim refused to be displaced, and his wife refused to leave him behind. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Since Israel broke the Gaza ceasefire in March, the army has killed nearly 4,000 Palestinians, bringing the death toll since October 2023 to over 54,000. In the following account, Aziza tells her story to the Middle East Eye. Trapped for two months When the Israeli army re-invaded Rafah in March and imposed a full siege, all of Aziza's children fled the area. Ibrahim, however, refused to leave. 'He was blind, unable to move on his own,' Qishta told MEE. 'He told me: 'I'm not leaving the house, and you'll stay with me.'' Her reply was unwavering: 'Of course. I won't leave you after 50 years together. Never.' Aziza Qishta surrounded by her grandchildren (MEE/Ahmad Aziz) For two months, they remained in the house. With movement impossible and supplies scarce, they survived on stored provisions - canned food, beans, rice, lentils, vermicelli, jam, and pasta. Water was fetched from a nearby building whenever possible. 'Day and night, we were surrounded by shelling - east, north, west,' she said. 'The worst was from the west.' They could hear Israeli gunfire, jets, and tanks all around them. 'We couldn't move,' she explained. Even when her son's house next door was bombed and collapsed, they stayed put. 'My husband insisted on staying, and I stayed with him.' Her cousins were in a nearby house that was also hit. 'It collapsed on them. More than 10 of them are still under the rubble today.' 'I had no one to help me' - Aziza Qishta, Palestinian woman Then, one day, a loud explosion struck the building's iron gate. 'Dust filled the house. When it cleared, I saw the house around us had been destroyed,' Qishta said. Only a single room and a bathroom were left. 'Suddenly, I saw my husband bleeding from his neck - he had been hit by shrapnel.' When she spotted the injury, she rushed to him, tending to his wound, washing his face, applying antiseptic, and wrapping him up. Despite his heavy weight, she lifted him onto her back. 'I had no one to help me. We moved slowly. I would stop to let him rest, then continue,' she explained. For five hours, Ibrahim continued to bleed. 'We were alone. No voices, no light.' Final hours Eventually, she reached her cousin's house and laid him down on a mattress. 'I said: 'Let me get you some food,' but he refused.' He accepted only a spoonful of honey and later asked for some water. 'Then he said: 'Pour some water on my head.'' Aziza stayed by his side throughout. 'I laid him down, sat next to him, never leaving his side.' She noticed his left hand trembling and offered to massage it. 'He said: 'No, leave it.' Then suddenly, it went limp.' When she looked at his face, he had passed away. 'There were no soldiers around,' she said. 'They come, bomb, and leave.' A photo of Israeli troops in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, released on 18 October 2024 (Israeli Army via AFP) Alone, she searched the garden and found a small hole near an olive tree. With no shroud, she used a window curtain to wrap his body and began to roll him into the hole by herself. 'I placed his body in a plastic bag and continued rolling him gently. It took me two hours of exhaustion. But God gave me strength.' She buried him with her own hands, covering the body first with a zinc sheet, then wood, and finally soil. 'I recited Ayat al-Kursi and Surah Yasin from the Quran over him and wept silently.' 'I recited Ayat al-Kursi and Surah Yasin from the Quran over him and wept silently' - Aziza Qishta After the burial, she returned home. 'I bathed, and for the first time in two months, I slept deeply from sheer exhaustion.' Ibrahim was killed on 10 May but Aziza remained alone in the house for another two weeks, until 24 May, when the last of the food and water ran out. That day, she began to suspect that the grave might have been bombed. 'I heard the buzzing of drones and gunfire.' The following day, she went to check. 'I found the zinc pierced with bullets, and his head exposed.' Her voice heavy, she recalled: 'My heart broke. I picked up his head, it felt as light as a loaf of bread, and returned it to the grave, dug a bit deeper, added a new piece of zinc and wood, and buried him again.' She said she didn't feel fear or hesitation, 'just pain, and patience'. 'I returned home, made a cup of tea, and had a simple breakfast,' she said. 'I had just 250 millilitres of clean water left.' Confrontation with soldiers Eventually, she decided to leave and confront the Israeli army. Carrying a stick with a white cloth and two small bags, she walked to a military checkpoint. 'They told me to stop and threw me a leaking water bottle,' she said. 'Then a tank approached and threw another.' Ordered to empty her bags, which held some medicine and clothes, she was then told: 'We want to take your photo.' 'This isn't me': Israeli war and healthcare collapse leave Gaza child unrecognisable Read More » When she explained she was wearing a hijab, they demanded she remove it. 'I refused. A soldier shouted, and about twenty of them pointed guns at me, saying: 'If you don't remove it, we'll kill you.' So I removed it, broken.' They made her walk with them but after ten minutes, she told them she was too tired to continue, so they placed her in a jeep. 'One soldier spoke Arabic. He asked my name and about my children. I told him I had four sons and nine daughters. He asked why my husband hadn't left earlier. I said: 'He refused, and I couldn't leave him.'' They told her to wait under a palm tree, but she insisted on moving. They left her near a place called Marj, where she then got lost for four hours. She said she then found an aid centre run by the Israeli army and an American company. 'They told me: 'Head north. Don't go east or west.'' Eventually, she reached a camp for displaced people, near Rafah. 'They told me to head for Khan Younis.' On the way, she met four young men. 'I gave them my name. They called the Qishta family, my family, and they came to get me.'
Middle East Eye
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Saudi top diplomat to make rare trip to occupied West Bank
Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan will visit the occupied West Bank this weekend, making him the highest ranking Saudi official to visit in almost 60 years, the Palestinian Authority (PA) revealed on Friday. Bin Farhan will lead a ministerial delegation comprised of his counterparts in Jordan, Egypt, and other Arab nations, the Palestinian ambassador to Saudi Arabia told local media, adding that the trip is intended to convey the centrality of the Palestinian cause to Arabs and Muslims. The move appears similar to the trip bin Farhan organised to Washington in the early months of Israel's war on Gaza, in a bid to showcase a united Arab front in support of a ceasefire. It also appears to be an attempt at lending credibility to the PA as an alternative to Hamas in Gaza, despite the PA's plummeting popularity among Palestinians. The trip is rare and unusual, given that the last time a Saudi official visited Ramallah, he had been appointed a non-resident ambassador to Palestine. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Nayef al-Sudairi arrived just weeks before the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, and before him, King Faisal had visited in 1966. Those attacks were intended to and indeed derailed Saudi-Israeli normalisation talks, Hamas officials revealed over the course of the war. With the kingdom being the de facto leader of the Arab world, it can set an agenda with the kind of influence few of its neighbours possess - and normalising with Israel would have likely dashed ambitions for Palestinian statehood. Since 2023, Saudi Arabia has made it clear that normalisation would only be pursued with a clear pathway to a Palestinian state. Earlier this year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called Israel's now 19-month-long war on Gaza a "genocide", echoing assessments by the United Nations and countless rights organisations, among other leading historians and experts. More than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed so far, with some experts believing the figure to be a significant undercount. Next month, a meeting in New York co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France is expected to outline the necessity of establishing a Palestinian state, and rebuild support for the concept of the two-state solution, a plan outlined in the 1993 Oslo Accords. Several European nations have recently recognised the state of Palestine, including Ireland, Spain, and Norway.
Middle East Eye
19 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
How do Muslims perform Hajj?
Hajj is an annual Muslim pilgrimage that takes place in Saudi Arabia. It is a religious obligation on all Muslims who are healthy, financially able, of sound mind and of age to perform this pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. It is one of the largest gatherings of humans in the world with more than two million people expected to take part this year from around 188 countries. Hajj season for 2025 will likely fall between 4 and 9 June. The pilgrimage rituals take place over a period of several days and culminates in Eid al-Adha, a day of celebration enjoyed by Muslims around the globe whether or not they took part in the Hajj itself. Eid al-Adha falls on Sunday 11 August in 2019. One of the philosophies of the Hajj is that of spirituality and unity. All Muslims perform the same rites and are encouraged to share in a spirit of equality. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters All pilgrims are to remain in a state of purity and simplicity during the Hajj as much as possible. This includes wearing simple clothes, which for men includes two pieces of white unsewn cloth. Women are not restricted to a specific colour but are also encouraged to wear non-elaborate clothing. Mina Having arrived in Mecca, on day one pilgrims leave the city and head to an area called Mina where they spend the day in prayer. Here over 100,000 tents have been set up as temporary shelter and accommodation for the pilgrims in what looks like a huge tent city. An aerial view of some of the pilgrim tents in Mina (AFP) Arafat On the Day of Arafat, pilgrims spend the entire day on, or near, a hill known as Mount Arafat - the Mount of Mercy. This is considered to be a great day of forgiveness and the day is spent repenting for past sins. Muslims believe that if you spend this day in a state of true repentance, all past sins will be forgiven. Muslims around the world who cannot physically take part in the Hajj also spend this day engaged in prayer, fasting and supplication. Pilgrims converge on the Mount of Arafat (AFP) Muzdalifa Pilgrims spend a night in an area called Muzdalifa, which is part way between Arafat and Mina. Pilgrims spend their time here in prayer and also gather pebbles to be used in a ritual the next day called the Jamarat. Pilgrims in Muzdalifa gather small pebbles to be used in a ritual the following day (AFP) Jamarat The Jamarat is a ritual and symbolic stoning of the devil. Three pillars - small, medium and large - are stoned by pilgrims with the pebbles they collected on their route from Muzdalifa the night before. The story associated with the stoning of the devil relates to the devil's attempt to dissuade Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) from obeying Allah's commands. Jamarat is the ritual and symbolic stoning of the devil in which pilgrims throw pebbles at three walls (AFP) In past years, so many people gathered to take part in this ritual that people were crushed and trampled. That has led to the Saudi authorities attempting to modernise the walkways and access points to the area to make it safer for pilgrims. Pilgrims on their way to perform the Jamarat ritual (AFP) Eid Pilgrims return to Mina for the first day of Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice. This is the second of the two annual Islamic holidays. Muslims throughout the world celebrate Eid on this day. In remembrance of the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to make any sacrifice commanded of him by God, Muslims on this day sacrifice an animal - usually a sheep - and distribute a portion of that meat to the poor. On this day pilgrims also cut their hair. While men may shave their heads or cut their hair short, women are only required to cut a lock of hair. Vendors sell balloons to children as Indonesian Muslims gather to take part in special Eid prayers (AFP/Sonny Tumelaka) Farewell tawaf Pilgrims return to Mecca for the final tawaf - circling of the Kaaba. The Kaaba is an ancient stone structure in Mecca towards which all Muslims around the world face to pray five times a day. Muslims believe that the Kaaba was the first place of worship built on Earth and that it was originally built by the Prophet Adam, the first man created by God. Pilgrims walk around, or circumambulate, it seven times in a counter-clockwise direction. The Kaaba is an ancient stone structure in Mecca which pilgrims circumambulate (AFP) Although not a part of the Hajj itself, many people round off the pilgrimage with a visit to Medina and the site of the grave of the Prophet Muhammad since, for most, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime journey.
Middle East Eye
a day ago
- Middle East Eye
Saudi women held in 'hellish' secretive care homes, finds report
Hundreds of Saudi women are being held in 'hellish' conditions in secretive care homes, used to 'rehabilitate' women banished by their families, according to a report in the Guardian. Over a period of six months, the Guardian collected testimonies about conditions in the care homes, known as Dar al-Reaya. The homes are where women are sent by their families or husbands for alleged disobedience, extramarital sexual relations or absence from home. Conditions were described to the Guardian as 'hellish', and included weekly floggings, forced religious teaching and a ban on any contact with the outside world. Sarah al-Yahia, who lives in exile and campaigns for the abolition of the homes, said she had spoken to a number of inmates about life in the homes. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The women and girls described several abuses, including being given sedatives to put them to sleep, strip searches and virginity tests. 'If you are sexually abused or get pregnant by your brother or father you are the one sent to Dar al-Reaya to protect the family's reputation' - Sarah al-Yahia, Saudi exile One woman described getting lashes for not praying, and also getting lashes and being accused of lesbianism for being alone with another woman. Yahia herself was threatened by her father that she would be sent to one of the facilities when she was 13. 'My father used it as a threat if I didn't obey his sexual abuse,' she said. 'I know a woman who was sentenced to six months in jail because she helped a victim of violence,' Yahia added. 'If you are sexually abused or get pregnant by your brother or father you are the one sent to Dar al-Reaya to protect the family's reputation.' 'Utterly alone and terrified' There have been reports of women committing or attempting to commit suicide due to the abusive conditions, according to rights group Alqst. Saudi officials describe the institutions as 'shelter for girls accused or convicted of various crimes who are aged less than 30'. It says that they serve to 'rehabilitate the female inmates in time of entering the facility in order to return them to their family'. Saudi official denies that alcohol ban will be lifted ahead of World Cup Read More » Amina, whose name was changed for security reasons, said she sought refuge in a care home in Buraydah, central Saudi Arabia, after being beaten by her father. She found staff at the home to be 'cold and unhelpful', and belittling of her experience. Amina said that the facility asked her and her father to write down 'conditions'. Her conditions included not being beaten or forced into marriage. However, she said once she was released, the beatings continued, and she was later forced into exile. 'I remember being utterly alone and terrified. I felt like a prisoner in my own home, with no one to protect me, no one to defend me,' she said. Another woman told the Guardian that she was held in Dar al-Reaya after she told the police that she had been abused by her father and brothers. She said she was held there until her father agreed for her to be released, despite the fact that her father was the alleged abuser. 'If they are serious about advancing women's rights, they must abolish these discriminatory practices and allow the establishment of genuine shelters that protect, rather than punish, those who have experienced abuse,' Nadyeen Abdulaziz, of Alqst, said. Allegations denied A Saudi spokesperson rejected claims of enforced confinment and mistreatment in the facilities. 'These are not detention centres, and any allegation of abuse is taken seriously and subject to thorough investigation,' the spokesperson told the Guardian. 'Women are free to leave at any time, whether to attend school, work, or other personal activities, and may exit permanently whenever they choose with no need of approval from a guardian or family member.' Concern for Saudi woman held in solitary confinement since February Read More » Since taking de-facto control of the kingdom in 2017, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has overseen a widespread crackdown on dissent, even as he pushed several nominally liberalising reforms. Those reforms include allowing women to drive, and relaxing restrictions preventing women from travelling without the consent of a male guardian. However in recent years, Saudi Arabia has jailed several women who have spoken out against women's rights and human rights abuses in the country. In May 2023, Fatima al-Shwarabi was given a 30-year sentence for anonymously tweeting about political prisoners, women's rights and unemployment. Last January, Saudi activist and fitness instructor Manahel al-Otaibi was sentenced to 11 years for promoting women's rights on social media. Salma al-Shehab, a Leeds University doctoral candidate and women's rights activist who was handed down a decades-long sentence for her tweets in 2022, was released this year.
