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The United Nations condemned Friday a group of “armed individuals” for raiding warehouses in the Palestinian territory of Gaza and looting large amounts of medical supplies.The group “stormed the warehouses at a field hospital in Deir al-Balah, looting large quantities of medical equipment, supplies, medicines, nutritional supplements that was intended for malnourished children,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.The stolen aid had been brought into war-ravaged Gaza just a day earlier, he said.”As conditions on the ground further deteriorate and public order and safety breaks down, looting incidents continue to be reported,” he said.But Dujarric highlighted the difference between Friday’s event and the looting two days earlier of a UN World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse by “starving” Palestinians, desperate for aid.”This appeared to be much more organized and much different from the looting we’d seen… in the past days,” he said.”This was an organized operation with armed men.” Since the beginning of last week, Israel has begun to allow a trickle of aid into the Palestinian territory, after a total blockade imposed on March 2.The UN has warned that the aid allowed through so far was “a drop in the ocean” of the towering needs in Gaza, after the blockade created dramatic shortages of food and medicine.The UN humanitarian agency warned Friday that “100 percent of the population (are) at risk of famine.”Gaza has been decimated by Israel’s punishing military offensive on the territory, which has killed at least 54,321 people, mostly civilians, according to health ministry figures the UN considers reliable.It has also reduced much of the territory to rubble, destroying hospitals, schools, residential areas and basic road and sewage infrastructure.Israel launched its offensive in response to an unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.- Only five trucks -On Thursday, “we and our humanitarian partners only managed to collect five truckloads of cargo from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing,” Dujarric said.”Another 60 trucks had to return to the crossing due to intense hostilities in the area.”He rejected Israeli allegations that the UN was not collecting available aid.”It was no longer safe to use that road,” which Israel’s military had asked aid organizations to use, he said, stressing that there are “a lot of armed gangs” operating there.The five trucks that did make it through on Thursday were carrying medical supplies for the Deir al-Balah field hospital.And most of those supplies “were looted today, very sadly and tragically,” Dujarric said.

Egypt and Greece sought to ease tensions over the historic St Catherine’s monastery in the Sinai peninsula on Friday after a controversial court ruling said it sat on state-owned land.Cairo has denied that the ruling threatens the UNESCO world heritage landmark, a pilgrimage and tourism site, after Greek and church authorities warned the sacred site’s status was at risk.St Catherine’s monastery was established in the sixth century at the biblical site of the burning bush in the southern mountains of the Sinai peninsula, and is the world’s oldest continually inhabited Christian monastery.A court in Sinai ruled on Wednesday in a land dispute between the monastery and the South Sinai governorate that the monastery “is entitled to use” the land and the archaeological religious sites dotting the area, all of which “the state owns as public property”.The ruling comes with a government development project underway to boost visitor numbers to the area, which is popular with pilgrims and adventure tourists looking to climb Mount Sinai.But on Friday, in a phone call with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Cairo was “fully committed to preserving the unique and sacred religious status of Saint Catherine’s monastery, and ensuring it is not violated”.The Greek premier’s office said Mitsotakis emphasised the importance of “preserving the pilgrimage and Greek Orthodox character of the monastery and resolving the issue in an institutional manner”, based on an agreement between the two countries.A Greek delegation is due to visit Egypt next week, the government in Athens said.Sisi’s office has defended the court ruling, saying that it “consolidates” the site’s sacred status, after the head of the Greek Orthodox church in Athens denounced it.Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens called the court ruling “scandalous” and an infringement by Egyptian judicial authorities on religious freedoms.- Tourism development -The Saint Catherine area, which includes the eponymous town and a nature reserve, already a popular tourist site, is undergoing major development under a controversial government project aimed at ramping up visitor numbers.Observers say the project has harmed the reserve’s ecosystem and threatened both the monastery and the local community.Archbishop Ieronymos warned that the monastery’s property would now be “seized and confiscated”, despite “recent pledges to the contrary by the Egyptian president to the Greek prime minister”.The ruling has drawn the condemnation of the region’s other Greek Orthodox patriarchates in Jerusalem and Istanbul.The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement on Friday that it was “deeply troubled” and asserted its jurisdiction over and protection of the monastery.It said the monastery was granted a letter of protection from the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century which was reaffirmed by the Ottoman Sultan Selim II in the 16th century.The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople said it was “disappointed and saddened” by the ruling and called on the Egyptian government to respect longstanding tradition and agreements with the monastery.In a statement to Egypt’s state news agency, the foreign ministry in Cairo later said rumours of confiscation were “unfounded”, and that the ruling “does not infringe at all” on the monastery’s sites or its religious and spiritual significance.Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said “Greece will express its official position … when the official and complete content of the court decision is known and evaluated”.He confirmed both countries’ commitment to “maintaining the Greek Orthodox religious character of the monastery”. 

The mother of jailed Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdel Fattah is close to death after 242 days on hunger strike, her daughter warned Friday.Laila Soueif, 69, was hospitalised Thursday in London with “critically low” blood sugar, having resumed her full hunger strike last week.Doctors gave “her proteins that help the body produce glucose”, her anxious daughter Sanaa Seif said outside St Thomas hospital in London.”It worked for a couple of hours” but the “bottom line is, we’re losing her, and… there is no time,” Seif added, saying her mother was still refusing to accept glucose.UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer “needs to act now, not tomorrow, not Monday. Now, right now,” she said.”It’s a miracle that we still have her, I’m really proud of her, and I want to remind Keir Starmer (of) his promise to us.”Soueif’s son Abdel Fattah was arrested in Egypt in September 2019 and sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “spreading false news” after sharing a Facebook post about police brutality.The 43-year-old writer and activist has become a symbol of the plight of thousands of political prisoners languishing in Egyptian jails.A United Nations panel of experts on Wednesday determined his detention was arbitrary and illegal and called for his immediate release.Soueif has been on hunger strike since September 29, 2024, the day her son was expected to be released after completing his five-year prison sentence.Abdel Fattah, who has spent most of the past decade behind bars, has also been on hunger strike himself since March 1 after learning his mother had been hospitalised with dangerously low blood sugar and blood pressure.Following her February hospitalisation, Soueif decided to ease her strike after Starmer said he had pressed for her son’s release in a call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.She began consuming 300 calories a day through a liquid nutritional supplement, still going without food until last week, when she returned to consuming only rehydration salts, tea without sugar and vitamins.Her family says she has lost over 40 percent of her bodyweight since September.Last week, Starmer’s office again said the prime minister had pressed for Abdel Fattah’s release in a call with Sisi.A key figure in the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, he has been detained under successive administrations since.Soueif’s daughter said she had been in contact with the UK foreign ministry. “They know she’s dying. They know in detail how she’s dying,” she said, visibly upset.A foreign ministry spokesperson told AFP they were “concerned to hear of Laila’s hospitalisation” and continued to press for Abdel Fattah’s release.

The UN warned on Friday that the entire population of Gaza is at risk of famine, as Israel vowed to build a “Jewish Israeli state” in the occupied West Bank.Israel has faced mounting international pressure over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the UN says only a trickle of aid has been allowed in after a more than two-month blockade.Negotiations to end nearly 20 months of war in Gaza have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Israel resuming operations in March following a short-lived truce.Israel has meanwhile doubled down on its settlement expansion in the West Bank, while defying calls from French President Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders for a two-state solution.Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, on Friday called Gaza “the hungriest place on earth”.”It’s the only defined area — a country or defined territory within a country — where you have the entire population at risk of famine. One hundred percent of the population at risk of famine,” he said.Recent AFPTV footage has shown chaotic scenes as large crowds of Palestinians desperate for food rushed to a limited number of aid distribution centres to pick up supplies. Israel recently intensified its Gaza offensive in what it says is a renewed push to destroy Hamas, drawing sharp international criticism, including from allies such as Britain and Germany.- ‘Crusade’ against Israel -This week Israel announced the creation of 22 new settlements in the West Bank.London called the move a “deliberate obstacle” to Palestinian statehood, and UN chief Antonio Guterres’ spokesman said it pushed efforts towards a two-state solution “in the wrong direction”.On Friday, Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed to build a “Jewish Israeli state” in the Palestinian territory which Israel has occupied since 1967.”This is a decisive response to the terrorist organisations that are trying to harm and weaken our hold on this land,” Katz said in a video published by his office. Israeli settlements in the West Bank — considered illegal under international law — are seen as a major obstacle to a lasting peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Katz framed the move as a direct rebuke to Macron and others pushing for recognition of a Palestinian state.Macron has recently stepped up his statements in support of the Palestinians, asserting on Friday that recognition of a Palestinian state, with some conditions, was “not only a moral duty, but a political necessity”.Macron confirmed he would personally attend a conference France is co-hosting with Saudi Arabia at the UN in June aimed at reviving the two-state solution.Israel on Friday accused the French president of undertaking a “crusade against the Jewish state”.The foreign ministry said that “instead of applying pressure on the jihadist terrorists, Macron wants to reward them with a Palestinian state”.- ‘Go in with full force’ -Negotiations aimed at halting the fighting in Gaza have continued, meanwhile, with the White House announcing Thursday that Israel had “signed off” on a new ceasefire proposal submitted to Hamas.The Palestinian militant group, however, said the deal failed to satisfy its demands, stopping short of rejecting it outright. Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said on Telegram that “after Hamas rejected the deal proposal again — there are no more excuses”.”It is time to go in with full force, without blinking, to destroy, and kill Hamas to the last one,” he said.Israel has not confirmed that it approved the new proposal.Gaza’s civil defence agency told AFP that at least 45 people had been killed in Israeli attacks on Friday, including seven in a strike targeting a family home in Jabalia in the north.Palestinians sobbed over the bodies of their loved ones at Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital following the strike, AFPTV footage showed.”These were civilians and were sleeping at their homes,” said neighbour Mahmud al-Ghaf, describing “children in pieces”.”Stop the war!” said Mahmud Nasr, who lost relatives. “We do not want anything from you, just stop the war.”The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Jabalia strike, but said separately that the air force had hit “dozens of targets” across Gaza over the past day.The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Friday that at least 4,058 people had been killed since Israel resumed major operations on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 54,321, mostly civilians. Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

The United Arab Emirates, a major oil exporter, began mandatory emissions monitoring for companies on Friday under a new law targeting climate change.Greenpeace hailed the move, a first for the Middle East but already in place in dozens of countries worldwide, as a “bold leap toward regional climate leadership”.The UAE, one of the world’s top oil exporters, neighbours several oil-rich countries including Saudi Arabia and Iran along with Qatar, a leading gas producer.Under the new law, companies are required to report and reduce their emissions of the greenhouse gases that are responsible for global warming.Ghiwa Nakat, executive director of Greenpeace MENA, called it a “progressive move”.”By institutionalising emissions monitoring and climate adaptation, the UAE is setting a compelling example for countries across the region,” she said in a statement.Public and private companies now have to regularly monitor emissions and take steps to reduce them, or risk fines of up to two million dirhams ($545,000).However, Greenpeace said the UAE also needed to set clear reduction targets, especially for major sectors such as energy and transport.The UAE, which hosted the United Nations’ COP28 climate talks in 2023, is targeting net-zero domestic carbon emissions by 2050.In its latest climate roadmap submitted to the UN, the Gulf monarchy committed to reducing emissions by 47 percent of 2019 levels by 2035.

Thousands of Afghans protested across the country on Friday against the Israeli bombardment in Gaza, responding to a nationwide call by the Taliban authorities.Large crowds gathered in several cities after Friday prayers waving Palestinian flags and burning pictures of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”We are out in support with Gaza. And to show the world that Gaza is not alone, we are standing with them. Wherever Muslims are oppressed, we strongly defend them and condemn it,” said 28-year-old Jannat, who goes by one name, in the capital Kabul.Negotiations to end nearly 20 months of war have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Israel resuming operations in Gaza in March, ending a six-week truce.Israel has in recent days partially eased a total aid blockade on the Palestinian territory that it imposed on March 2.The blockade led to severe shortages of food and medicine with the United Nations warning that “100 percent” of Gazans are at risk of famine. Taliban Prime Minister Hassan Akhund condemned on Friday Israel’s actions in Gaza, labelling them a “genocide” and expressing growing concern over the escalating violence against Palestinian civilians. “The situation continues to deteriorate daily, in blatant violation of fundamental humanitarian principles,” he said in a statement.   The Taliban government, which is not internationally recognised, has long maintained vocal support for the Palestinian cause and regularly condemns Israeli actions in the occupied territories.

Saudi Arabia is ramping up a crackdown on unregistered worshippers at next week’s hajj pilgrimage, a year after hundreds perished in scorching conditions.Regular raids, drone surveillance and a barrage of text alerts are aimed at rooting out unauthorised visitors hoping to mingle among the crowds in and around the holy city of Mecca.The simple message, “No hajj without a permit”, is being blared out in a relentless campaign promoted nationwide at shopping centres, on billboards and across media platforms.Last year, 1,301 pilgrims, most of them unregistered and lacking access to air-conditioned tents and buses, died as temperatures soared to 51.8 degrees Celsius (125.2 degrees Fahrenheit).”Since the end of last season, we realised the biggest challenge is preventing unauthorised pilgrims from undermining the success of the hajj season,” said one official helping organise the hajj, requesting anonymity. The hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, must be completed by all Muslims with the means at least once.Yet official permits are allocated to countries through a quota system and distributed to individuals via a lottery.Even for those who can obtain them, the steep costs make the irregular route — which costs thousands of dollars less — more attractive.Saudi officials said 83 percent of those who died last year did not have official hajj permits. Temperatures of up to 44C (111F) are forecast next week. – ‘Unprecedented’ security -To seek out unregistered pilgrims, Saudi authorities have rolled out a new fleet of drones to monitor entrances into Mecca.Security forces have also raided hundreds of apartments in search of people hiding out in the area.An Egyptian engineer living in Mecca, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said his building was raided multiple times in recent weeks.”Police officers in uniform came to my home twice and asked to see my and my wife’s residency permits,” he told AFP.”Almost everywhere, we’re being asked to show residency or work permits in Mecca. The security presence is unprecedented.”The problem of illicit pilgrims has become acute since Saudi Arabia loosened visa restrictions in line with economic reforms, trying to attract more tourism and business.Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have used family and tourist visas, instead of the designated hajj visa, to enter the country each year.- Fines and bans -Saudi Arabia is now trying to cut off the problem at source, restricting multiple-entry visas for citizens of several countries since January. Family and tourist visas were also barred to nationals of more than 10 countries, including Egypt, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Jordan.Umar Karim, an expert on Saudi affairs at the University of Birmingham, said officials previously focused on “deterring people but not stopping them” from coming before hajj.”Saudi authorities have seen that once these people are inside the kingdom, stopping them from physically entering Mecca is a difficult task even if a huge number of security officials are deployed,” he added. For the past month, entry into Mecca has been restricted to individuals with work and residency permits.Many people in Mecca have been forced to send their wives and children, who lack the proper visas, out of the city.Pilgrims coming for umrah — similar rites that can be performed year-round — have also been required to leave.Meanwhile, fines for an illicit hajj have doubled to 20,000 Saudi riyals ($5,333), with violators facing a 10-year ban from the country.Those found to be harbouring and helping unauthorised pilgrims can be fined up to 100,000 riyals ($26,666).”All of this is aimed at ensuring that Mecca is reserved exclusively for authorised pilgrims during the Hajj season,” the official added. Residents of Mecca told AFP that the crowds there have noticeably thinned compared to previous years.However, officials said on Tuesday that more than a million pilgrims had already arrived in Saudi Arabia for the hajj.Last year’s hajj deaths were a high-profile example of the havoc wrought by heat in 2024, which the Copernicus Climate Change Service said was the hottest year ever recorded.While the pilgrimage, which follows a lunar calendar, will eventually shift to the cooler winter season, relief will be temporary.A 2019 study published by the journal Geophysical Research Letters said because of climate change and the timing of the hajj, heat stress for pilgrims will exceed the “extreme danger threshold” from 2047 to 2052, and 2079 to 2086.