Tragic end for bid to save 5-year-old Rayan, trapped 30 meters down well in Morocco

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Rescuers work to reach a five-year-old boy trapped in a well in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco on Feb. 5, 2022. (Reuters)
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Rescuers stand near the whole of a well into which a five-year-old boy fell in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco on Feb. 5, 2022. (Reuters)
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A general view shows the site where rescuers are working to reach a five-year-old boy trapped in a well in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco on Feb. 5, 2022. (Reuters)
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Rescuers stand near the hole of a well into which a five-year-old boy fell in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco on Feb. 5, 2022. (Reuters)
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A view shows the site where rescuers are working to reach a five-year-old boy trapped in a well in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco on Feb. 5, 2022. (SNRT News/Reuters)
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Rescuers work to reach a five-year-old boy trapped in a well in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco on Feb. 5, 2022. (Reuters)
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A member of the Moroccan emergency services teams works on the rescue of five-year-old boy Rayan in the remote village of Ighrane in the rural northern province of Chefchaouen on Feb. 5, 2022. (AFP)
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Moroccan emergency services teams work on the rescue of five-year-old boy Rayan in the remote village of Ighrane in the rural northern province of Chefchaouen on Feb. 5, 2022. (AFP)
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A view shows the site where rescuers worked to reach Rayan Awram from the well on Feb. 5, 2022. (Courtesy of SNRT NEWS/REUTERS TV/via REUTERS)
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Rescue workers carry the body of Rayan Awram to an ambulance after he was extracted from the well on Feb. 5, 2022. (REUTERS TV/via REUTERS)
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Updated 06 February 2022
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Tragic end for bid to save 5-year-old Rayan, trapped 30 meters down well in Morocco

  • Rayan Awram was rushed to hospital as soon as he was brought to the surface from a well
  • For days, complex and risky earth-moving operation gripped residents of Morocco and beyond

JEDDAH/LONDON: The race to save a five-year-old boy who fell 32 meters down a well in Morocco ended in tragedy on Saturday when he was found dead.

The Moroccan royal palace confirmed that Rayan, who was trapped in the deep well for four days, has died.

Moroccan King Mohammed VI made a phone call to Khaled Awram and Wassima Khersheesh, Rayan’s parents, to offer his condolences to the family over the boy’s tragic passing, the palace said in a separate statement.

Millions worldwide watching a live video feed from the scene held their breath as rescuers and a medical team emerged from a tunnel carrying Rayan Awram, who had been trapped since Tuesday.




King Mohammed VI made a phone call to Khaled Awram and Wassima Khersheesh, Rayan’s parents, to offer his condolences. (MAP)

The rescue operation was constantly delayed by rocks and imperilled by the threat of landslides.

The boy was wrapped in a yellow blanket after he emerged from a tunnel dug specifically for the rescue, and was immediately taken by ambulance to a helicopter where he was transported to the nearest hospital, shortly before the palace issued the statement confirming his death.

Earlier, the king affirmed that he was closely following the developments and had issued instructions to all concerned authorities to take the necessary measures and to exhaust all efforts to save his life.




Medics and rescuers inspect the body of Rayan Awram after he was extracted from the well on Feb. 5, 2022. (REUTERS/Abdelhak Balhaki)

King Mohammed also expressed his appreciation for the tireless efforts made by the rescue teams, as well as the collective activities and strong support from various Moroccan groups and families during this painful occasion.The boy was pulled out Saturday night by rescuers after a lengthy, delicate and dangerous operation that captivated global attention.

Workers with mechanical diggers had been trying round the clock to rescue the 5-year-old child, Rayan Awram, after he fell into a 32-meter (100-foot) deep well in the hills near Chefchaouen on Tuesday.

“We hope we will not encounter rocks,” lead rescuer Abdelhadi Tamrani told reporters at the site on Saturday afternoon, while there were still several meters left to dig.




Rescuers stand near the hole of a well into which a five-year-old boy fell in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco on Feb. 5, 2022. (Reuters)

His parents had been escorted to an ambulance before the boy emerged. His plight had captured worldwide attention.

Online messages of support and concern for the boy poured in from around the world as the rescue efforts dragged through the night.

Rescuers used a rope to send oxygen and water down to the boy as well as a camera to monitor him. By Saturday morning, the head of the rescue committee, Abdelhadi Temrani, said: “It is not possible to determine the child’s condition at all at this time. But we hope to God that the child is alive.”


Tamrani said it was difficult to determine the child’s health condition because a camera that has been dropped down the well showed him lying on his side, but he added “we hope we will rescue him alive.”

The Red Crescent also confirmed that it had been providing oxygen continuously to the little boy since Tuesday evening.




A view shows a well into which a five-year-old boy fell in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco on Feb. 5, 2022. (Reuters)

Rescue crews, using bulldozers and front-end loaders, excavated the surrounding red earth down to the level where the boy was trapped and dug horizontally toward him, by hand.

They faced a risk of landslides, and on Saturday had to maneuver around a large rock which blocked their way.

Earlier in the darkness, crews had moved a heavy pipe into position in the area. One rescuer lugged what appeared to be a jackhammer.

A glacial cold had gripped this mountainous and impoverished region of the Rif, which is at an elevation of about 700 meters (2,300 feet).

Thousands of people had gathered and even camped in solidarity around the site in recent days and onlookers applauded to encourage the rescuers, sang religious songs or prayed, chanting in unison “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest).




People gather as rescuers work to reach a five-year-old boy trapped in a well in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco Feb. 5, 2022. (Reuters)

The shaft, just 45 centimeters (18 inches) across, was too narrow to reach Rayan, and widening it was deemed too risky — so earth-movers dug a wide slope into the hill to reach him from the side.

The operation has made the landscape resemble a construction site. It involves engineers and topographers, and was made more complex by the mix of rocky and sandy soils.

“I keep up hope that my child will get out of the well alive,” Rayan’s father told public television 2M on Friday evening. “I thank everyone involved and those supporting us in Morocco and elsewhere.”

He said earlier in the week that he had been repairing the well when the boy fell in.




A view shows the site where rescuers are working to reach a five-year-old boy trapped in a well in the northern hill town of Chefchaouen, Morocco on Feb. 5, 2022. (SNRT News/Reuters)

The drama has sparked an outpouring of sympathy online, with the trending Arabic hashtag #SaveRayan.

“Millions of people across the world are holding their breath in the race against time to save Rayan,” one Twitter user wrote.

Another paid tribute to rescue workers working around the clock for days, saying, “they are real-life heroes.”

A male relative of the boy told Reuters TV that the family had first realized he was missing when they heard muffled crying and lowered a phone with its light and camera on to locate him.

“He was crying ‘lift me up’,” the relative said.

(With Reuters and AFP)


Gaza aid situation not much improved, US says as deadline for Israel looms

Updated 05 November 2024
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Gaza aid situation not much improved, US says as deadline for Israel looms

  • Washington told Israel on Oct. 13 it had 30 days to take steps to address humanitarian crisis in Gaza
  • Israel on Monday announced cancelling agreement with UN relief agency for Palestinians (UNRWA)

WASHINGTON: Israel has taken some measures to increase aid access to Gaza but has so far failed to significantly turn around the humanitarian situation in the enclave, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday, as a deadline set by the US to improve the situation approaches.
The Biden administration told Israel in an Oct. 13 letter it had 30 days to take specific steps to address the dire humanitarian crisis in the strip, which has been pummeled for more than a year by Israeli ground and air operations that Israel says are aimed at rooting out Hamas militants.
Aid workers and UN officials say humanitarian conditions continue to be dire in Gaza.
“As of today, the situation has not significantly turned around. We have seen an increase in some measurements. We’ve seen an increase in the number of crossings that are open. But just if you look at the stipulated recommendations in the letter, those have not been met,” Miller said.
Miller said the results so far were “not good enough” but stressed that the 30-day period had not elapsed.
He declined to say what consequences Israel would face if it failed to implement the recommendations.
“What I can tell you that we will do is we will follow the law,” he said.
Washington, Israel’s main supplier of weapons, has frequently pressed Israel to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza since the war with Hamas began with the Palestinian militant group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel.
The Oct. 13 letter, sent by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, said a failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing the measures on aid access may have implications for US policy and law.
Section 620i of the US Foreign Assistance Act prohibits military aid to countries that impede delivery of US humanitarian assistance.
Israel on Monday said it was canceling its agreement with the UN relief agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), citing accusations that some UNRWA staff had Hamas links.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said Israel had scaled back the entry of aid trucks into the Gaza Strip to an average of 30 trucks a day, the lowest in a long time.
An Israeli government spokesman said no limit had been imposed on aid entering Gaza, with 47 aid trucks entering northern Gaza on Sunday alone.
Israeli statistics reviewed by Reuters last week showed that aid shipments allowed into Gaza in October remained at their lowest levels since October 2023.


Israel issues 7,000 new draft orders for ultra-Orthodox members

Updated 05 November 2024
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Israel issues 7,000 new draft orders for ultra-Orthodox members

JERUSALEM: Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant issued 7,000 additional army draft orders Monday for individuals from the country’s ultra-Orthodox community, historically exempted from mandatory service until a June Supreme Court decision.
Gallant approved the Israeli army’s “recommendation to issue an additional 7,000 orders for screening and evaluation processes for ultra-Orthodox draft-eligible individuals in the upcoming phase, which is expected to begin in the coming days,” the defense ministry said in a statement.
The order comes after a first round of 3,000 draft orders were sent out in July, sparking protests from the ultra-Orthodox community.
Monday’s orders come at a time when Israel is struggling to bolster troop numbers as it fights a multi-front war, with ground forces deployed to fight Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“The defense minister concluded that the war and the challenges we face underscore the (Israeli army’s) need for additional soldiers. This is a tangible operational need that requires broad national mobilization from all parts of society,” the ministry said.
In Israel, military service is mandatory for Jewish men for 32 months, and for 24 months for Jewish women.
The ultra-Orthodox account for 14 percent of Israel’s Jewish population, according to the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), representing about 1.3 million people.
About 66,000 of those of conscription age are exempted, according to the army.
Under a rule adopted at Israel’s creation in 1948, when it applied to only 400 people, the ultra-Orthodox have historically been exempted from military service if they dedicate themselves to the study of sacred Jewish texts.
In June, Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the draft of yeshiva (seminary) students after deciding the government could not keep up the exemption “without an adequate legal framework.”
Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,374 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to Gaza health ministry figures which the United Nations considers to be reliable.
Since late September, Israel has broadened the focus of its war to Lebanon, where it intensified air strikes and later sent in ground troops, following nearly a year of tit-for-tat cross-border fire with Hezbollah.


Palestinians build new lives in Cairo’s ‘Little Gaza’

Updated 05 November 2024
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Palestinians build new lives in Cairo’s ‘Little Gaza’

CAIRO: Palestinian Bassem Abu Aoun serves Gaza-style turkey shawarma at his restaurant in an eastern Cairo neighborhood, where a growing number of businesses opened by those fleeing war have many dubbing the area “Little Gaza.”
“It was a big gamble,” said the 56-year-old about opening his restaurant, Hay Al-Rimal, named after his neighborhood in Gaza City, now devastated by Israeli bombardment.
“I could live for a year on the money I had, or open a business and leave the rest to fate,” he said.
So less than four months after fleeing with his family to neighboring Egypt from the besieged Palestinian territory, he opened his eatery in Cairo’s Nasr City neighborhood.
The establishment is one of the many cafes, falafel joints, shawarma spots and sweets shops being started by newly arriving Palestinian entrepreneurs in the area — despite only being granted temporary stays by Egypt.
These spaces have become a refuge for the traumatized Gazan community in Cairo, offering a livelihood to business owners, many of whom lost everything in the war.
“Even if the war stops now in Gaza, it would take me at least two or three years to get my life back on track,” Abu Aoun said.
“Everything has been wiped out there,” he continued.
His patrons are mainly fellow Palestinians, chatting in their distinct Gazan dialect as they devour sandwiches that remind them of home.
On a wall next to his shop was a mural of intertwining Egyptian and Palestinian flags.
“I have a responsibility to my family and children who are in university,” said the restaurateur, whose two eateries in Gaza have now been completely destroyed.
Abu Aoun and his family are among more than 120,000 Palestinians who arrived in Egypt between November last year and May, according to Palestinian officials in Egypt.
They crossed through the Rafah border crossing, Gaza’s only exit point to the outside world until Israeli forces seized the Palestinian side in early May and closed it ever since.
Although Egypt insists it won’t do Israel’s bidding by allowing permanent refugee camps on its territory, it had allowed in medical evacuees, dual passport holders and others who managed to escape.
Many drained their life savings to escape, paying thousands of dollars a head to the private Egyptian travel agency Hala, the only company coordinating Gaza evacuations.
War broke out in Gaza on October 7, 2023, after Hamas’s surprise attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed 43,374 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry which the UN considers reliable.

Gazan-style desserts
Opening the restaurant was not an easy decision for Abu Aoun, but he says he’s glad he did it.
“I’ll open a second branch and expand,” he said with a smile, while watching a family from Central Asia being served a traditional Gazan salad.
Nearby is Kazem, a branch of a decades-old, much-loved Gaza establishment serving iced dessert drinks.
Its Palestinian owner, Kanaan Kazem, opened the branch in September after settling in Cairo.
The shop offers ice cream on top of a drink sprinkled with pistachios, a Gazan-style treat known as “bouza w barad,” which has become a fast favorite among the Egyptian patrons filling the shop.
“There’s a certain fear and hesitation about opening a business in a place where people don’t know you,” said Kazem, 66.
But “if we’re destined never to return, we must adapt to this new reality and start a new life,” he said, standing alongside his sons.
Kazem hopes to return to Gaza, but his son Nader, who manages the shop, has decided to stay in Egypt.
“There are more opportunities, safety and stability here, and it’s a large market,” said Nader, a father of two.
Gazan patron Bashar Mohammed, 25, takes comfort in the flourishing Palestinian businesses.
“Little Gaza reminds me of Gaza’s spirit and beauty and makes me feel like I’m really in Gaza,” he said.
After more than a year of war, Gaza has become uninhabitable due to extensive destruction and damage to infrastructure, according to the United Nations.
“It’d be hard to go back to Gaza. There’s no life left there,” he said, taking a deep breath.
“I have to build a new life here.”


Israel accuses Turkiye of ‘malice’ over UN arms embargo call

Updated 05 November 2024
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Israel accuses Turkiye of ‘malice’ over UN arms embargo call

  • Turkiye’s letter, seen by AFP Monday, called the “staggering” civilian death toll “unconscionable and intolerable”

UNITED NATIONS, United States: Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations on Monday accused Turkiye of “malice,” after Ankara submitted a letter signed by 52 countries calling for a halt in arms deliveries to Israel over the war in Gaza.
“What else can be expected from a country whose actions are driven by malice in an attempt to create conflicts with the support of the ‘Axis of Evil’ countries,” said Ambassador Danny Danon, using a pejorative term to describe the Arab countries who signed the letter.
Turkiye’s foreign ministry said Sunday it had submitted the letter to the United Nations, with the signatories including the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Israel has faced international criticism for the conduct of its war in Gaza, where its offensive has killed at least 43,374 people, most of them civilians, according to health ministry figures which the United Nations considers to be reliable.
The war was sparked by Palestinian armed group Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
“This letter is further proof that the UN is led by some sinister countries and not by the liberal countries that support the values of justice and morality,” said Danon.
Turkiye’s letter, seen by AFP Monday, called the “staggering” civilian death toll “unconscionable and intolerable.”
“We therefore make this collective call for immediate steps to be taken to halt the provision or transfer of arms,  munitions and related equipment to Israel, the occupying Power, in all cases where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they may be used in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the letter said.
It added that the UN Security Council (UNSC) must take steps to ensure compliance with its resolutions “which are being flagrantly violated.”
The UNSC called in March for a ceasefire in Gaza, but has struggled to speak with a unified voice on the issue due to the veto wielded by Israel’s key ally, the United States.
Asked about the joint letter on Monday, the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he had not seen it.


Gaza aid situation not much improved, US says as deadline for Israel looms

Updated 05 November 2024
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Gaza aid situation not much improved, US says as deadline for Israel looms

  • Aid workers and UN officials say humanitarian conditions continue to be dire in Gaza

WASHINGTON: Israel has taken some measures to increase aid access to Gaza but has so far failed to significantly turn around the humanitarian situation in the enclave, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday, as a deadline set by the US to improve the situation approaches.
The Biden administration told Israel in an Oct. 13 letter it had 30 days to take specific steps to address the dire humanitarian crisis in the strip, which has been pummeled for more than a year by Israeli ground and air operations that Israel says are aimed at rooting out Hamas militants.
Aid workers and UN officials say humanitarian conditions continue to be dire in Gaza.
“As of today, the situation has not significantly turned around. We have seen an increase in some measurements. We’ve seen an increase in the number of crossings that are open. But just if you look at the stipulated recommendations in the letter, those have not been met,” Miller said.
Miller said the results so far were “not good enough” but stressed that the 30-day period had not elapsed.
He declined to say what consequences Israel would face if it failed to implement the recommendations.
“What I can tell you that we will do is we will follow the law,” he said.
Washington, Israel’s main supplier of weapons, has frequently pressed Israel to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza since the war with Hamas began with the Palestinian militant group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel.
The Oct. 13 letter, sent by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, said a failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing the measures on aid access may have implications for US policy and law.
Section 620i of the US Foreign Assistance Act prohibits military aid to countries that impede delivery of US humanitarian assistance.
Israel on Monday said it was canceling its agreement with the UN relief agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), citing accusations that some UNRWA staff had Hamas links.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said Israel had scaled back the entry of aid trucks into the Gaza Strip to an average of 30 trucks a day, the lowest in a long time.
An Israeli government spokesman said no limit had been imposed on aid entering Gaza, with 47 aid trucks entering northern Gaza on Sunday alone.
Israeli statistics reviewed by Reuters last week showed that aid shipments allowed into Gaza in October remained at their lowest levels since October 2023.