Pilgrims arrive in Saudi Arabia as Hajj Ministry completes preparations

Arab News

July 26, 2017

Jeddah, Jul 26: The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced that pilgrims have started arriving in the Kingdom via land, air and sea ports.

On Sunday, 325 pilgrims arrived at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah on the first Hajj flight from Pakistan, while three other Hajj flights from Pakistan arrived in Madinah with 651 pilgrims on board. More international flights followed.

The ministry began implementing plans adopted by Minister of Hajj and Umrah Mohammed Salih Bentin for this year’s Hajj season, which ensure all services will be provided to pilgrims from the time of their arrival in the Kingdom until departure at the end of their Hajj.

The minister urged all sectors operating under the ministry, religious institutions and the General Syndicate of Cars, to ensure implementation of ministry-approved plans and establish cooperation and coordination between all participating agencies.

The minister also instructed all Hajj service centers in Makkah and Madinah to intensify efforts and facilitate all operations concerning pilgrims. He also advised them to strengthen the role of monitoring committees in the field.

Pilgrims are expected to continue arriving in the Kingdom until the fifth day of Dhul Hijjah, with an expected 950,000 pilgrims arriving via King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah and 750,000 arriving at Prince Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz Airport in Madinah. Around 100,000 pilgrims will arrive by land and sea. Pilgrims from 178 countries are registered for this year’s Hajj season.

Moreover, Umrah travel operators from Riyadh will operate the last Umrah travel on Thursday.

A leading Umrah travel agent in the capital said that in view of the Hajj season, the regular coach service from the Riyadh to Makkah and Madinah will be suspended until the end of the Hajj season with the last run on Thursday. He also said that some travel operators wound up their Umrah operations last week.

The Umrah season reached its peak during the holy month of Ramadan which recorded nearly 3 million pilgrims from abroad and from the Kingdom during a 30-day period.

The regular five-day package to Makkah and Madinah is suspended till the Hajj is over, the agent 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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