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Standing beside the mound of rubble that was once his home, Ahmed Salim cannot hold back the tears as he struggles to retrieve the bodies of loved ones trapped underneath tonnes of debris.Over 30 people were killed when his home was struck, he told AFP, among them “my wife, my children, my mother, my father”.”I’m the only one who survived,” he told AFP, pointing to the pile of broken concrete and twisted metal that was once a five-storey building in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood.The building was destroyed on December 24, 2024 and he has been waiting ever since to retrieve their bodies and give them a proper burial.”The only thing that matters to me is to be able to bury them,” the 43-year-old said.After two years of war between Israel and Hamas that ravaged the Gaza Strip, thousands of other Palestinians are in a similar situation.According to UN data, as of late September, the Israeli military had damaged or destroyed around 83 percent of the buildings in Gaza that stood prior the war.The densely-populated Palestinian territory is covered in 61.5 million tonnes of debris: nearly 170 times the weight of New York City’s Empire State Building.Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence agency, estimates that about 10,000 bodies are buried under the rubble.”We cannot extract thousands of bodies without heavy machinery. We need the means to lift the roofs and the tonnes of cement,” said Bassal, whose organisation conducts search and rescue operations in Gaza.- ‘Help me retrieve them’ -Iyad Rayan holds out the same hope as Salim: burying his wife and children with dignity.”My wife, my son Samir and my daughter Lana are still here under the rubble,” he told AFP by the wreckage of his Gaza City home, which he said was destroyed in early October this year.”I want to send an appeal to the whole world: help me retrieve them,” the 55-year-old said.Amal Abdel Aal is waiting for heavy equipment to enter the Gaza Strip so the bodies of her son and brother can be recovered.They have been under the rubble in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City since the early days of the two-year war.”They never leave my thoughts. My heart aches at the thought of dogs reaching their bodies and eating them,” said the 57-year-old woman now living in southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people have sought shelter during the war.”I will only find relief when I have buried them, even if only a single bone remains.”After the ceasefire began on October 10, Israel allowed Egyptian bulldozers to enter Gaza to help recover the remains of hostages, to be returned under the US-brokered truce deal.”The world is unfair. We see bulldozers digging to retrieve the Israeli prisoners, while no one cares about the thousands of our martyrs,” said Abdel Aal.- ‘Sadness, loss and pain’ -The October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people.Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza killed more than 69,500 people, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.Since the ceasefire, Palestinians have been able to recover around 500 bodies in areas that emergency workers could access following the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces, Bassal said.The halt in fighting allowed Amer Abu al-Tarabish to return to Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, he said, to extract the bodies of his parents from the ruins of their family home “with my bare hands”.”My parents, my brother and his children, his wife, my uncle, his wife and their children… Thirty people remained under the rubble for more than a year,” he said.”I pulled out their bodies intact; they were not decomposed,” he recounted, adding that he was “overwhelmed by sadness, loss and pain”.”I was able to bring them out one by one, say goodbye to them, and imprint their faces in my memory before burying them.”- Dignity -For other Gaza residents, even this small consolation may never come.Bassal noted that thousands of people had been reported missing, especially during major population displacements as the fighting shifted.”We don’t know whether they were killed or arrested” by Israeli forces, he said.As for families who buried their loved ones hastily during the war, many consider those graves to be temporary, or feel that proper rites have not yet been observed.Mohammed Naim, 47, said his family had to bury 43 relatives in just seven graves.”We placed the remains of each family in a single grave,” he said.”But we swore over their graves that we would exhume them and rebury them, with dignity, in Gaza City.”

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s trip to Washington has been a triumph, with Donald Trump rolling out the red carpet for “the future king” and absolving him of the criticism he has faced for years.The heir to the Saudi throne was given a lavish welcome during his visit to the White House Tuesday on par with what American leaders regularly receive when they visit the kingdom.The trip marked the first visit by the prince to the US since the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents sparked global outrage and transformed the heir into a pariah.The state visit was all the more surprising because the prince is not the kingdom’s official head of state — a fact that did not stop President Donald Trump from rolling out the literal red carpet for the de facto ruler.Here’s a quick rundown of what the Saudis achieved during this trip and what it means for the future of the relationship.- What was different this time? -Despite being long-time allies, there has been unease between the Americans and Saudis for years. US concerns over human rights issues, memories of the September 2001 attacks carried out by mostly Saudi hijackers and fears over the kingdom’s links to extremism have cast a long shadow over the partnership. But the relationship is undergoing a striking upgrade. On Tuesday, the heir to the Saudi throne was treated to a fly-over by military jets, an escort by an honour guard mounted on horseback and a red-carpet reception accompanied by trumpets. There was also a candle lit, black-tie dinner Tuesday night with the likes of footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, tech titan Elon Musk and Apple CEO Tim Cook ahead of a major Saudi-backed investment conference later this week. There was no lecturing about human rights during this visit. Instead, Trump went on the offensive to defend Prince Mohammed when the subject of Khashoggi’s murder was broached by reporters in the Oval Office. “This lavish reception in Washington with Donald Trump definitively establishes MBS as a privileged partner of the United States and shows that the centre of gravity of the Arab world is now located in Riyadh,” Karim Bitar, professor at Sciences Po in Paris, told AFP, referring to the prince by his initials.- But what did Riyadh actually secure? -The Saudis received US commitments on a variety of issues and a major defence deal that the kingdom has spent years lobbying for. Deals included the future sale of the US’s most advanced aircraft — the F35 stealth fighter jet — along with an agreement paving the way for a potential civil nuclear power programme in the kingdom and the naming of Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally. But beyond deals, the trip also cemented the US’s backing of Prince Mohammed following years of strained ties over the Khashoggi murder. “The main thing Saudi Arabia gained from this was really about MBS, showing that he is an integral part of the US-Saudi relationship ahead of him becoming king,” said Andrew Leber is a nonresident scholar in the Carnegie Middle East Program.On Trump’s goal of normalising ties between Riyadh and Israel, Prince Mohammed said it remained possible, but insisted a “clear path” to Palestinian statehood was needed first.- How is the trip being received back home? -Saudis were gushing over the treatment the crown prince was treated to in Washington, and headlines in the papers dripped with approval.”Mohammed bin Salman and Trump… a partnership without limits” proclaimed one banner in Asharq Al Awsat newspaper.Broadcasters have also been airing highlights of the meeting and the embrace between Trump and the crown prince on repeat on Wednesday. Saudis on social media also praised the regal reception, while others were also quick to point out that First Lady Melania Trump’s evening gown matched the colour of the Saudi flag. One social media user called the fashion diplomacy move “a smart protocol gesture” that was full of “respect” for the crown prince. “The relationship is no longer confined to oil and security,” wrote Faisal J. Abbas, the editor-in-chief of Arab News in an editorial in the Saudi daily.  “Nuclear cooperation, space exploration, artificial intelligence and advanced technologies are now on the table. This is not just a bilateral upgrade — it is a strategic leap.” 

US President Donald Trump fiercely defended Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Tuesday over the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, insisting the kingdom’s de facto ruler “knew nothing” about the murder as he wooed him at the White House.Trump sought to brush the gruesome murder of the Washington Post columnist under the red carpet, honoring the Saudi royal with a flypast and lavish dinner, and formally naming Riyadh as a major non-NATO ally.He raged at a journalist who asked the prince in the Oval Office about the case for embarrassing the Saudi royal on his first US trip since the murder, and called Khashoggi “extremely controversial.””A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,” he said.”Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but he (the prince) knew nothing about it. And we can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.”The Saudi royal, who came bearing a pledge of a $1 trillion investment in the United States on his first US visit since the killing, said Khashoggi’s murder was “painful” and a “huge mistake.”Trump’s comments were at odds with a US intelligence assessment in 2021 that concluded Prince Mohammed had ordered the operation to kill Khashoggi, who was murdered and dismembered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.Saudi officials blamed rogue agents.- ‘No justification’ -After the meeting, the journalist’s widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, said in a post on X there was “no justification to murder my husband” and urged the Saudi prince to “meet me, apologize and compensate me.”The killing during Trump’s first term caused a diplomatic crisis, but the US president made it clear he now wanted to paper over it as he boosts his relationship with the Saudis.Trump called for US broadcaster ABC, whose journalist asked the question about Khashoggi’s murder, to have its license revoked in a furious diatribe against the “crappy” company.In a surprise move at the gala dinner in the evening, Trump said he was designating Saudi Arabia as one of just 20 major non-NATO allies around the world. “I’m just telling you now for the first time, because they wanted to keep a little secret for tonight,” he said.Soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays in Saudi Arabia, was among the guests at the meal. So was billionaire Elon Musk, in a sign that the billionaire has mended ties with Trump after his tempestuous spell in the president’s administration.Earlier Trump, 79, pulled out all the stops to impress Prince Mohammed, 40, giving him a flyby featuring the coveted, US-made F-35 stealth fighters, and thundering cannon fire.The flattery continued inside the Oval Office, as Trump called the Saudi a “very good friend” and hailed him as being “incredible, in terms of human rights, and everything else.” The two countries later signed a host of deals, including a civil nuclear cooperation agreement that the White House said would last decades.Trump also approved a “major defense sale package” which includes “future deliveries” of F-35s. They also agreed to share AI technology “while protecting US technology from foreign influence.”- Business interests -Trump said he had also pushed Prince Mohammed to normalize relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords, as he seeks to turn the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza into a longer-lasting regional peace.The Saudi said he wanted to join the accords — Trump’s signature diplomatic achievement during his first term — but first needed a “clear path” to Palestinian statehood.Prince Mohammed has fostered close ties with Trump and his family over the years, including through investment pledges to the property billionaire-turned-US president.Trump denied any conflicts of interest, a day after a Saudi developer announced a new hotel partnership in the Maldives with the Trump Organization, which is run by his sons.”I have nothing to do with the family business. I have left,” Trump said.

Draft beer, peanuts and big-screen sports… the scene is reminiscent of pubs worldwide, but in Saudi Arabia’s capital, customers in white robes or black veils sip alcohol-free pints with no expectation of a hangover.”The idea is to offer customers an original experience they can share on social media,” Abdallah Islam, manager of the A12 cafe in Riyadh, told AFP.At the cafe, Saudi women lift their black face veils to sip ice-cold beer. “Is there alcohol in this?” one customer asked, nervously eyeing his pint.The incongruous scene, with veiled women clinking glasses, signals the changes under way and in the conservative kingdom, home to Islam’s holiest sites, as deep-seated taboos are gently prodded.The A12 cafe, on one of the busiest avenues in the capital, displays a large picture of a foaming pint on its window.Its managers say the cafe has been packed since April when it began serving draft beer — a German Warsteiner with 0.0 percent alcohol, poured into large mugs and served with peanuts, pub-style.Around the tables, young men in white thobes — the traditional Saudi garment — film themselves sipping their drinks, while a waiter pulls pints behind a shiny black bar.Some watch football on a television screen while enjoying a cold brew.Since the rise to power of Saudi crown prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman, cinemas have reopened, women are allowed to drive and foreign tourists are being welcomed.Alcohol, however, remains a red line.Booze has been banned in Saudi Arabia since 1952, shortly after the son of then-King Abdulaziz got drunk and, in a rage, shot dead a British diplomat.- Beer fear -For years, some residents of the city have been known to make their own bootleg wine. Others turn to the black market, where a bottle of whisky can fetch several hundred dollars.In January 2024, the country opened its first liquor store in Riyadh, catering exclusively to non-Muslim diplomats.But alcohol will not be served during the 2034 World Cup, the Saudi ambassador in London told a British broadcaster this year.”The kingdom must tread carefully with any potential legalisation of alcohol, as it would contradict its image as a credible leader of the Islamic world,” Sebastian Sons of the German think tank CARPO told AFP.Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are the only Gulf countries that still ban alcohol.Back at the A12 cafe, curious Saudis are coming to see what the fuss is about.”The look of it is scary — it looks like alcohol,” said Sheikha, 18, who asked to be identified by her first name only.”The word ‘beer’ alone is scary,” she laughed. “But I got over my fear, and honestly it’s refreshing.”The young woman, accompanied by a friend, decided to try the experience after seeing videos on TikTok.For the cafe’s manager, the point is to be able to offer the bar experience “but within the limits of local values”.It is a delicate balance in a youthful country where many are keen to experiment — but without crossing the line.”In our country, there are no alcoholic drinks,” said Ahmed Mohammed, 18, as he set down his empty mug.”And we don’t want there to be any.”