New Jeddah airport to open mid-2015

June 26, 2014

Jeddah, Jun 26: The new King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah will open in the middle of 2015 with an increased capacity, a leading official said here on Tuesday.

Abdul Hamid Abul Ora, director of the airport said: “The new airport will have a capacity of 30 million passengers in the first phase, 45 million in the second phase, and up to 80 million in the final phase.”

The airport management is currently focusing on completing the first phase on schedule, he said.

Abul Ora said there are penalties stipulated by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) for those airlines failing to offer proper services for passengers, including adhering to set flight schedules.

Responding to a question, Abul Ora said there are plans to establish an air cargo village after the development of the new airport, to cater for the nearly 20 percent annual growth in cargo. These villages in other parts of the world have been highly profitable, he said.

Commenting on the recurring air-conditioning problems at the South Terminal Lounge, he said a budget has been allocated for upgrades there and at the north terminal lounges.

He said temporary units have been brought in at the south terminal while the work is under way. Each substitute unit has a cooling capacity of 50 tons. They are being installed in departure and arrival halls for a month, he said.

He said a duty-free market would be launched at the new airport.

In response to a question, he said the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus outbreak has not affected the number of passengers at the airport. The Ministry of Health has introduced stringent precautionary measures at the airport, he said.

He confirmed that a hotel would be opened at the airport for pilgrims if flights are canceled or delayed. Companies contracted to GACA would build the facility, which would have 117 rooms and suites, 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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