Latest news with #MohammedMustafa
Bahrain News Gazette
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Bahrain News Gazette
Dean of Arab Diplomatic Corps Hosts Dinner in Honour of Palestinian Prime Minister's Visit
London: Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Dean of the Arab Diplomatic Corps and Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Kingdom, hosted a dinner in honour of His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Mustafa, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine, and his accompanying delegation, on the occasion of his official visit to the UK. The dinner was attended by members of the Arab Ambassadors' Council accredited to the UK. According to Bahrain News Agency, Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed welcomed HE Dr. Mustafa and highlighted the importance of his visit to London. The meeting discussed the latest developments in the Palestinian territories. It emphasised the need for joint Arab and international efforts to implement the two-state solution, in line with the Arab Peace Initiative and international resolutions. The aim is to establish an independent, sovereign Palestinian state based on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and to secure its full m embership in the United Nations. The discussions also emphasised the importance of restoring the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, particularly the right of return, self-determination, empowerment, and support. The participants commended Arab efforts and contributions in supporting the Palestinian people. They highlighted initiatives such as Egypt's plan for early recovery and reconstruction in Gaza and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's initiative to launch an international coalition to implement the two-state solution. They also underlined the importance of the 'Bahrain Declaration,' adopted at the Arab Summit hosted by Bahrain last May. At the conclusion of the meeting, HE Dr. Mohammed Mustafa commended the efforts of the Council of Arab Ambassadors in supporting the Palestinian cause across international forums.
The Guardian
23-04-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
This British-Australian doctor has seen the unspeakable in Gaza. He wants to shout from the rooftops
When Israel shattered the ceasefire in Gaza last month and resumed its large-scale bombardment, the British-Australian doctor Mohammed Mustafa had just clocked off at the emergency department of what was the last fully functioning hospital in Gaza City. 'It was so intense that the windows blew off their hinges and I had fallen out of my bed,' he tells Guardian Australia's Full Story podcast. The 35-year-old emergency physician from Perth was on his second medical mission in the besieged territory volunteering for the Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association at al-Ahli Arab hospital, also known as the Baptist hospital. Children and women began arriving at the hospital with extreme injuries, including burns and missing limbs. Mustafa knew many would not survive the night. 'The department was so full that it spilled out on to the streets and we were cutting people's chests open to put in chest drains in the streets,' he says. 'Because I am 6'2' and about 18 stone I ended up just carrying two or three people at a time on my back, on my chest, carrying them and just running to the CT scanner to get people in.' Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter His eyewitness testimony from inside the hospital went viral online. He has learned that the organisation he volunteered for feared the attention he received would get him killed. 'They actually prepared a press release of my death and they showed it to me a couple of days ago,' he says. More than 400 aid workers have been killed in Gaza, with Médecins Sans Frontières saying Israel has turned the territory 'into a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance'. Just days after Mustafa completed his stint at al-Ahli it was bombed by the Israeli army, which claimed it was being used as a 'command and control centre' without producing any evidence. Now back in Australia, Mustafa says he is on his own 'campaign trail', sharing what he witnessed in Gaza with anyone who will listen while seeking to galvanise individuals to action. 'A lot of people want me to stay in my lane and play things a certain way but there are children dying every single day and I'm not going to sit here and be patient,' he says. He wants to meet the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, calling on them to sit down with him to discuss ways Australia can help on the ground while rejecting the government's characterisation that Australia is 'not a major player'. 'We don't have to be a major player in the Middle East to feed children, we don't have to be a major player in the Middle East to heal children, to help them,' he says. 'Obviously I'm disappointed in the lack of response in Gaza … and we can do more.' Australia joined international calls for a ceasefire in December 2023 – by which point Israeli airstrikes had already killed close to 20,000 Palestinians. The number has now surpassed 51,000, according to figures from the Gaza health ministry, with thousands more missing and injured. Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Guardian Australia has been told Wong has agreed to a meeting with Mustafa. Her spokesperson said Australia had 'consistently' been part of the international call for a ceasefire. 'Alongside our partners, we continue to press Israel to abide by its obligations under international humanitarian law, including to provide basic services and facilitate humanitarian assistance,' the spokesperson said. 'Since 7 October 2023, we have committed over $100 million in humanitarian assistance to assist civilians in Gaza and Lebanon impacted by conflict. This is on top of doubling annual funding to UNRWA.' After the Israel Defense Forces' killing of the Australian aid worker Zomi Frankom in a drone strike one year ago, Australia announced that it would work to build a coalition to promote the safety of humanitarian personnel, including local aid workers. 'The Foreign Minister is leading an influential group of countries to create a global Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel, increasing pressure for countries to abide by international humanitarian law,' a spokesperson said. In addition to more government aid, Mustafa has called for greater philanthropic funding, saying he would like to work with a fellow West Australian, the mining billionaire Andrew Forrest, on projects he has 'ready to go'. Last month Andrew and Nicola Forrest issued a statement through the Mindaroo Foundation condemning the 'atrocities continuing to unfold in Gaza' while calling on 'countries with influence' to use their leverage to ensure the situation does not further deteriorate. They have contributed more than $10m in aid to Gaza and neighbouring countries since October 2023. 'I'm sure a lot of people ask you for things but I want to also thank you as well,' Mustafa says. 'So, buddy, if you're listening out there, please, please, please respond to our emails or get in touch with me.' While Mustafa is aware that the high profile he has gained may prevent him from being permitted re-entry to Gaza, he says if given the chance he 'wouldn't skip a heartbeat'. 'I miss Gaza so much, I miss the people there, how brave they are, how resilient they are, their kindness towards me.'
The Guardian
22-04-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Bearing witness in Gaza: an Australian doctor returns
When British-Australian doctor Mohammed Mustafa walked into the terminal at Perth airport last week, there were hundreds of people waiting to welcome him back. He touched down after spending weeks on a medical mission, volunteering at the last fully functioning hospital in Gaza city. Mustafa speaks to Nour Haydar about what he witnessed, why he would not hesitate to go back into the centre of a humanitarian crisis and his message to the political leaders of Australia
The National
16-04-2025
- Health
- The National
Blood is cheap on streets of Gaza, says Australian doctor given hero's homecoming
Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza Mohammed Mustafa says one of the hardest things for him to deal with during his work as a volunteer doctor in Gaza was the scale of death he witnessed, including the high number of child victims of the war. The Australian emergency doctor returned home to Perth after his second stint in Gaza, from March 11 to April 10, with the Palestinian Australian and New Zealand Medical Association. He had first gone in June last year, when 38,000 Palestinians had been killed, and that number had exceeded 50,000 by the end of his recent visit. 'I'm a humanitarian. I don't believe in killing people whether Arabs or Israelis, whether they're Jewish or Muslim or Christian,' Dr Mustafa, 35, told The National. 'I believe in the sanctity of life wherever it is, and in Gaza, you don't see that with the amount of people that get killed. 'You don't see the sanctity of life any more. Blood is cheap on the streets of Gaza, and that's the difficult thing to process,' he said. 'It's a very difficult job when you go [to Gaza]. You're limited with the resources you have, you're dealing with complex injuries, and you're dealing with multiple injuries that come in all at the same time. There's no triage because of the sheer influx of people. People come in, people bring in bodies, there are distressed families, there's multiple women and children, and there's so many people that are critically injured,' he said. 'There's a lot of people that die that don't need to die. If we had the right medical equipment, they would have survived.' Dr Mustafa said he and other medics had to deal with multiple cases at the same time, especially during mass casualty events, including people injured in missile strikes, crushed under bombed buildings, hit by shrapnel or bullets. The majority of patients were women and children, he said. 'One of the hardest things to deal with was that the volume of child casualties was well over 50 to 60 per cent.' He said the Al Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza city, where he was working, received 156 bodies, most of them children, after Israeli resumed its bombardment of Gaza early on March 18. 'I don't think that's normal for any human being to see that many children killed. I'm only human, all these things will affect me, and that was one of the things I mentally prepared for before going into Gaza. But there was a lot of people that died in my arms, so it has been very difficult to process that.' He recalled one incident, when he was treating a boy whose chest had filled with blood and was struggling to breathe. As he tried to save him by opening his chest and inserting a tube without anaesthesia, he felt the hand of a woman lying under the bed grip his ankle. She reached out to him with her other hand and said: 'Help me.' With his hands inside the boy's chest, Dr Mustafa said he could not help the woman right away. When he looked down to check on her after he was finished, she had bled to death, still holding on to his ankle. Videos of Dr Mustafa's return to Perth went viral after crowds gathered at the airport to welcome him. 'I didn't expect such a reception, but people were cheering and people came up to me, complete strangers, hugging me and handing me flowers,' he said. 'It was so overwhelming, the support that I received. But I think that just goes to show you how deeply affected everybody is by what's going in Gaza and it's resonating throughout the whole world, that even somebody like me who's just a doctor that went there to help, I come back to a hero's welcome,' he said. The people welcoming him were not only Palestinians, or Arabs or Muslims. There were 'teachers for Palestine', 'Perth moms for Palestine', senators, doctors, nurses and families, he said. 'Those people are not pro-Palestinian, they're pro-humanity, they're pro-keeping children alive.' Dr Mustafa said he believes the true heroes are the people in Gaza. 'The paramedics and the doctors there and the civil defence who go out and dig people from tunnels and collapsed buildings, those are the people that deserve the praise, not me.' Despite not wanting the attention he has received, Dr Mustafa said it gave him a platform to spread awareness about what is happening in Gaza. 'We need humanitarian intervention in Gaza, we need to help these children,' he said. 'Those kids should be able to dream like every other kid. Those people deserve the same security and freedom as all of us, and they deserve to dream like all of us, and that's all I wish for as a doctor.'
Egypt Today
16-04-2025
- Business
- Egypt Today
Egypt praises EU's proposed €1.6B program to foster Palestinian recovery, resilience
Palestinain Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa participates in joint press conference after the first EU-Palestine High-Level Political Dialogue in Luxembourg - PA CAIRO – 16 April 2025: Egypt commended the European Commission's announcement of a multiannual €1.6 billion program aimed at fostering Palestinian recovery and resilience, noting that it reflects the EU's support for the Palestinian Authority. In a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, Egypt highlighted that the program will contribute to empowering the PA's institutions and help fulfill the aspirations and legitimate needs of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. During the inaugural High-Level Political Dialogue between the EU and the PA on Monday, the European Commission proposed this Comprehensive Support Programme from 2025 to 2027, valued at €1.6 billion to aid Palestinian recovery and resilience. More than a third of this total (around €620 million) is allocated as grants for direct assistance to the PA, enabling it to continue providing services to the population. Additionally, around €576 million in grants will support concrete projects in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, including a proposed €82 million per year to provide services to Palestinian refugees through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), both in the occupied territories and the wider region. 'This will enable UNRWA to continue playing its crucial role as both a humanitarian and developmental actor,' stated the European Commission. The package also includes €400 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support the Palestinian private sector. Egypt emphasized that the new program underscores 'the EU's recognition of the necessity to support the Palestinian people during this critical phase of their struggle, while working toward a just and lasting resolution of the Palestinian cause based on the two-state solution.' Egypt welcomed the proposed allocation to UNRWA, commending the agency's 'irreplaceable and indispensable role' in providing basic services and humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees. Egypt expressed its hope for continued EU support for the PA while actively participating in the international conference for early recovery and reconstruction of Gaza, which Egypt is set to host in collaboration with the UN and the Palestinian government.
