Saudi Gulf ready for Nov. 1 takeoff

May 26, 2015

Jeddah, May 26: Saudi Gulf Airlines said Monday that it would start operating flights on Nov. 1 from Dammam to Jeddah, Riyadh and one international destination, with more destinations added next year as its fleet expands.

The statement follows a meeting between Sulaiman Al-Hamadan, president of the General Authority of Civil Aviation, and Tariq bin Abdel Hadi Al-Qahtani, chairman of the airline’s board of directors. “Saudi Gulf plans to fly from Dammam to three destinations, initially with a fleet of four Airbus A320s,” said Samer Majali, the group’s president and senior adviser.

“We are working with GACA in preparation for starting operations to obtain the technical license,” Majali said. The airline’s domestic flights will offer first class and economy fares, while international flights will provide business class and economy class services. In addition to the A320 aircraft, the airline signed a $2 billion deal with Canada’s Bombardier last year to purchase 16 CSeries jets with an option for a further 10.

Delivery of the CS300 jets, which can carry 130 to 160 passengers, is expected to begin late this year or early 2016. Majali said additional aircraft would join the fleet after the delivery of the A320s and CSeries jets.

“We are happy to welcome Saudi Gulf as a new operator in the Kingdom,” said Al-Hamdan, adding that it would strengthen competition between airline companies to provide better services to passengers.

“We believe that the increase in the number of airlines will improve air transport services between Saudi cities and regions and boost the Kingdom’s social and economic development,” the GACA chief said.

During the meeting, Saudi Gulf presented its operation plans. “They have a primary license and the final license will be given when they complete final preparations for operations,” said GACA spokesman Wael Al-Sarhan.

Only national carrier Saudi Arabian Airlines and budget operator National Air Services currently serve a domestic market of about 27 million people. Foreign carriers can only fly in and out of Saudi Arabia, not within the country, but that will change when Qatar Airways obtains regulatory approval to launch its subsidiary Al Maha Airways for the Saudi market.

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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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