Makkah gears up for Haj as Umrah pilgrims depart

August 6, 2014

Jeddah, Aug 6: Authorities are gearing up to ensure the timely departure of foreign Umrah pilgrims over the next few days as the current Umrah season draws to a close.

Almost 90 percent of foreign Umrah pilgrims had left the Kingdom by the end of Ramadan, while remaining pilgrims continue to leave the country daily.

The last departure date for foreign pilgrims is Aug. 11, according to officials.

“We will begin welcoming Haj pilgrims from abroad after that date,” Ali Al-Ghamdi of the Haj Ministry told Arab News. “More than six million pilgrims arrived in the Kingdom to perform Umrah despite a reduction in the overall number of visas this year,” he said.

“The majority of Umrah pilgrims are leaving from Jeddah, followed by Madinah, while many leave via land and sea, in particular from Yanbu,” he said.

“We have not noticed any delay in departures, as our electronic system effectively monitors pilgrim movement,” he said. “The Haj Ministry has also kept an eye on pilgrim facilities and services in both Makkah and Madinah and this includes ensuring effective transport means between the two cities,” he said.

“Haj Minister Bandar Hajar conducted a review meeting on Monday morning at his office in Jeddah to oversee final stage departure plans. The Haj Ministry is coordinating with civil aviation and passport authorities in executing the most efficient pilgrim departure plan to avoid delays.” The official attributed the successful implementation of the Umrah plan to the newly introduced electronic service.

Al-Ghamdi emphasized that the Haj ministry is determined to replicate last year’s success.

Haj pilgrims from South Africa will be first foreign pilgrims to arrive into the Kingdom later this month, he said.

“All three terminals at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) are working at full capacity to facilitate the easy departure of foreign Umrah pilgrims,” a KAIA official told Arab News. “There are 70 counters working to process documents. More than 20,000 pilgrims leave through the Haj terminal every day,” he said.

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UN condemns Israeli regime’s ‘organized torture’ against Palestinians

News Network

November 30,2025

The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) has condemned the Israeli regime for enforcing a policy of “organized torture” against Palestinians.

In a report published on Friday, CAT stated that the occupying regime enforces a deliberate policy of “organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment” against Palestinian abductees, particularly since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza.

The committee expressed “deep concern over repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, water-boarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence” inflicted on Palestinians.

Palestinian prisoners were degraded by “being made to act like animals or being urinated on,” systematically denied medical care, and subjected to excessive restraints, “in some cases resulting in amputation,” the report added.

CAT also condemned the routine application of “unlawful combatants law” to justify the prolonged detention without trial of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children.

More than 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian and international human rights groups, with 3,474 Palestinians in “administrative detention,” meaning they are imprisoned without trial for indefinite periods.

The report highlighted the “high proportion of children who are currently detained without charge or on remand,” noting that while Israel sets the age of criminal responsibility at 12, even younger children have been abducted.

Children designated as security prisoners face severe restrictions on family contact, may be subjected to solitary confinement, and are denied access to education, in clear violation of international law.

The committee further suggested that Israel’s policies across the Occupied Territories constitute collective torture against the Palestinian population.

“A range of policies adopted by Israel in the course of its continued unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading living conditions for the Palestinian population,” the report said.

On Thursday, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas condemned the systematic killing and torture of Palestinian abductees in Israeli prisons, urging international action to halt these abuses.

Citing human rights data, Hamas stated that 94 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli prisons since the start of Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“This reflects an organized criminal approach that has turned these prisons into direct killing grounds to eliminate our people,” the resistance movement said.

Hamas called on the international community, the UN, and human rights organizations to immediately pressure Israel to end crimes against prisoners and uphold their rights as guaranteed by all international conventions and norms.

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