Look: First image of Ramadan crescent captured in UAE
The Al-Khatim Astronomical Observatory in Abu Dhabi captured the first image of the Ramadan crescent in the Islamic World in the evening of Friday, February 28, 2025.
Earlier, the UAE had called on all Muslims to sight the crescent for Ramadan, the Emirates Fatwa Council announced on Wednesday.
The sighting of the crescent signals the start of the next month according to the Hijri calendar, meaning the month of Shaban has ended at 29 days.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Middle East Eye
21 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Gaza: This 12-year-old dreams of combing her hair again after surviving an Israeli attack
Twelve-year-old Hala Shukri Dehliz was playing with her friends on a swing in Gaza one evening during Ramadan, even as the constant sounds of war raged in the background. Suddenly, an Israeli air strike detonated near the swing. Its force twisted the metal chains around her head, tearing off parts of her scalp along with her hair. 'My hair got stuck with the swing,' she recalls. 'The skin of my head was removed. I was rushed to the hospital. I stayed there for two months, but they couldn't treat me. The inflammations and ulcers only got worse.' The first day they did surgery, they used 175 stitches to close her scalp. 'I woke up and saw myself without hair. I had a breakdown and fainted. My parents tried to reassure me. They said, 'Don't be afraid. You'll travel and get treatment. Your hair will grow again.' But I kept crying.' New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Before the bombing, Hala had prepared for Eid with excitement. 'I had bought ties for my hair and Eid clothes,' she says, her voice breaking. 'But I spent Eid in a hospital bed. I didn't feel the joy. I didn't wear the clothes. I was just... there.' 'We have been displaced six times' Hala's father, Shukri Omar Eid Dehliz, speaks with the fatigue of a man shouldering the unbearable. 'We are originally from Rafah. We have been displaced six times. Our home was bombed and demolished. Each place we went, we could only stay for 20 days, a month, sometimes two. Now, we're in Khan Younis, al-Mawasi, living in a tent near the sea.' Their tent stands on rented land they can 'barely afford'. Hala Shukri Dehliz in Gaza with her siblings (Eman Alhaj Ali/MEE) 'Winter brings floods inside the tent. Summer is unbearable. There's no electricity, no solar panels. Even basic food is missing,' he said. There is no bread. No medicine. No safety. 'Hala can't even take painkillers,' he says. 'She needs to eat before taking them, but there's no food. We survive on aid - mostly lentil soup. Every child gets one small plate per day. That's it. 'We are a family of seven. Some days we have only two pieces of bread. We divide them among us. The children cry for food. I have nothing to give them. It's a cruelty no parent should face. My child begs for bread, and I can't provide it. Sometimes, we just want to die instead of continuing this life in Gaza.' A mirror without reflection Hala's daily routine is now confined to the interior of a suffocating tent. She isolates herself from other children who react to her scarred head with confusion and fear. 'When I try to go outside, the children ask why I don't have hair. They get scared. So I stay inside. I play alone. I try to write and draw myself,' she says softly. 'When I try to go outside, the children ask why I don't have hair. They get scared. So I stay inside. I play alone' - Hala Shukri Dehliz 'Every day, I stand in front of the mirror trying to comb my hair. But there is no hair to comb.' Hala was a top student, dreaming of becoming a doctor - dreams now paused by trauma and the physical pain of untreated wounds. 'I was always the first in my class,' she remembers. 'I used to wake up early, comb my hair, go to school, then play with my friends. Now, I don't go to school. I look in the mirror and I just see loss.' She still keeps a lock of her long brown hair, holding it as a reminder of who she was, and who she hopes to become again. 'I want to travel abroad and get treatment. I want to have my hair again. I want to play with my friends. I want to feel pretty again.' 'Gaza is starving to death' Hala's father speaks in anguish about the daily torment and mounting famine which has in recent weeks led to a growing number of deaths from malnutrition and dehydration. 'There's no flour, no rice, no milk or vegetables. Even when there's food in the market, the prices are too high for us. My four-year-old cries for bread. I can't bear it.' He recounts how their lives have shrunk into a punishing cycle of fear, hunger and helplessness. Former UN aid chief: Israel committing 'worst crime of the 21st century' in Gaza Read More » 'The bombs fall constantly. The children scream in terror. Gaza is in a state of disaster. We are unemployed. The borders are closed. No aid is coming in. As parents, we demand the world to act. This genocide must stop. 'We are not asking for luxury. We are asking for the basics - bread, water, medicine. We are asking for a chance for our children to live.' Hala's story is not an isolated tragedy. She is one of tens of thousands of children injured or killed in a war that has erased homes, schools and playgrounds, as well as whole families. Border closures have blocked any attempt to evacuate her for treatment. Her parents - both injured in separate attacks - desperately try to find sterile gauze, clean water and food to support her healing. 'She needs daily medical care,' says her mother, Mayada. 'She cries every day, remembering her hair. Her head is still full of ulcers and infections. If she doesn't get out soon, it will get worse.' Despite everything, Hala said she still dreams of a hospital bed in a foreign country where doctors will help her scalp heal. She dreams of brushing her hair and even one day becoming a doctor. 'I hope the world hears me. I hope someone helps me travel. I want my hair back. I want to be beautiful again.'
Khaleej Times
2 days ago
- Khaleej Times
UAE-based Gazans share heartbreaking accounts of starvation, survival back home
When asked to sum up his daily life in Gaza, photojournalist Hammam Younis Al Zeytounia responded with just two words: 'Searching for the impossible.' Younis, who is a neighbour of UAE resident Anwar Awni, recounted the heartbreaking reality that Gazans have to face just to survive. The search for the impossible In a voice message sent to Awni, shared with Khaleej Times, Younis described how food is almost completely unavailable in the markets, and where there is limited food, the prices are extremely high. Usually, Younis' sister would go out in search of food to bring home, but he said that markets have ceased to exist this week. 'Searching for food has become nearly impossible. To cope, we started planting vegetables in our garden to help ease the hunger of the children,' Younis said. Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels. He added that the aid distribution centre, set up by the American and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, has become a 'death trap', adding: 'We can't go there. Our injuries from a previous airstrike, which killed 13 of my family members, have left us physically limited and unable to move freely.' Younis' family was killed in an airstrike in December 2023, two months after Israel began its relentless bombing campaign. 'Others [family members] were wounded; some managed to leave for medical treatment. Those who remain are more concerned with food and water than following the news. That shift in focus says everything about our reality,' he added. Between the inflated food prices and the 'death trap' distribution centres, many Gazans have been suffering from severe cases of malnutrition and famine, in many cases dying due to hunger. On Wednesday, more than 100 human rights group warned that forced starvation of the Gaza strip's population was escalating. Every day is a struggle Yara Balsalat, a Gazan living in the UAE, has family members who are 'trying to make it through with whatever little they have' back home, she told Khaleej Times. 'Life in Gaza right now is incredibly heavy and uncertain. Every day is a struggle, people wake up not knowing if they'll have access to food, water, or even basic safety,' Balsalat shared. 'Families are doing their best to hold onto some sense of normalcy, but the situation has made even simple daily routines nearly impossible.' Although her family has received some aid, it is inconsistent and not enough to sustain themselves. The distribution centres are packed tightly, overwhelmed with people to get their hands on one of the aid packages. 'People wait for hours in tough conditions, often just to be turned away because supplies run out,' she said. Watching the famine, limited food stocks, massacres at aid sites, and the never-ending hums of the drones in the air, has been 'one of the hardest things' Balsalat has ever dealt with. She said she tries to stay in touch with her family back in Gaza as much as possible, but there are times when days go by without an update from them. 'When we do talk, it's short and to the point, mostly just [to make] sure everyone is alive and safe,' she stated. 'There's rarely time for anything more. Still, hearing their voices, even briefly, means the world.' She said she is overburdened with worry, and every message or call is filled with fear, but also hope. 'I try to stay grounded and strong for them. Holding onto faith and staying connected, even in the smallest ways, helps me cope. And, of course, I keep them in every single prayer I pray,' Balsalat added. 'The death phase' Earlier, on Sunday, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) issued a statement detailing the deaths of civilians approaching 25 WFP trucks carrying vital food assistance, which came under Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire. 'We are deeply concerned and saddened by this tragic incident resulting in the loss of countless lives,' it said in the statement. 'Many more suffered life-threatening injuries. These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation. This terrible incident underscores the increasingly dangerous conditions under which humanitarian operations are forced to be conducted in Gaza.' The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) also detailed crimes against humanity. An UNRWA worker stated that Gaza is in the 'death phase', explaining that everything around people is 'death, whether it's bombs or strikes, children wasting away in front of their eyes from malnourishment, from dehydration, and dying.' As of Wednesday, 111 people died in the Gaza strip due to starvation and malnutrition-related diseases, the Gaza's Ministry of Health reported in a Telegram post. According to the Ministry, the number of deaths due to Israeli aggression has totaled 59,219 and 143,045 since October 7, 2023.
Middle East Eye
2 days ago
- Middle East Eye
Gaza: A young girl tries to live with devastating injuries
Twelve-year-old Hala Shukri Dehliz was playing with her friends on a swing in Gaza one evening during Ramadan, even as the constant sounds of war raged in the background. Suddenly, an Israeli air strike detonated near the swing. Its force twisted the metal chains around her head, tearing off parts of her scalp along with her hair. 'My hair got stuck with the swing,' she recalls. 'The skin of my head was removed. I was rushed to the hospital. I stayed there for two months, but they couldn't treat me. The inflammations and ulcers only got worse.' The first day they did surgery, they used 175 stitches to close her scalp. 'I woke up and saw myself without hair. I had a breakdown and fainted. My parents tried to reassure me. They said, 'Don't be afraid. You'll travel and get treatment. Your hair will grow again.' But I kept crying.' New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Before the bombing, Hala had prepared for Eid with excitement. 'I had bought ties for my hair and Eid clothes,' she says, her voice breaking. 'But I spent Eid in a hospital bed. I didn't feel the joy. I didn't wear the clothes. I was just... there.' 'We have been displaced six times' Hala's father, Shukri Omar Eid Dehliz, speaks with the fatigue of a man shouldering the unbearable. 'We are originally from Rafah. We have been displaced six times. Our home was bombed and demolished. Each place we went, we could only stay for 20 days, a month, sometimes two. Now, we're in Khan Younis, al-Mawasi, living in a tent near the sea.' Their tent stands on rented land they can 'barely afford'. Hala Shukri Dehliz in Gaza with her siblings (Eman Alhaj Ali/MEE) 'Winter brings floods inside the tent. Summer is unbearable. There's no electricity, no solar panels. Even basic food is missing,' he said. There is no bread. No medicine. No safety. 'Hala can't even take painkillers,' he says. 'She needs to eat before taking them, but there's no food. We survive on aid - mostly lentil soup. Every child gets one small plate per day. That's it. 'We are a family of seven. Some days we have only two pieces of bread. We divide them among us. The children cry for food. I have nothing to give them. It's a cruelty no parent should face. My child begs for bread, and I can't provide it. Sometimes, we just want to die instead of continuing this life in Gaza.' A mirror without reflection Hala's daily routine is now confined to the interior of a suffocating tent. She isolates herself from other children who react to her scarred head with confusion and fear. 'When I try to go outside, the children ask why I don't have hair. They get scared. So I stay inside. I play alone. I try to write and draw myself,' she says softly. 'When I try to go outside, the children ask why I don't have hair. They get scared. So I stay inside. I play alone' - Hala Shukri Dehliz 'Every day, I stand in front of the mirror trying to comb my hair. But there is no hair to comb.' Hala was a top student, dreaming of becoming a doctor - dreams now paused by trauma and the physical pain of untreated wounds. 'I was always the first in my class,' she remembers. 'I used to wake up early, comb my hair, go to school, then play with my friends. Now, I don't go to school. I look in the mirror and I just see loss.' She still keeps a lock of her long brown hair, holding it as a reminder of who she was, and who she hopes to become again. 'I want to travel abroad and get treatment. I want to have my hair again. I want to play with my friends. I want to feel pretty again.' 'Gaza is starving to death' Hala's father speaks in anguish about the daily torment and mounting famine which has in recent weeks led to a growing number of deaths from malnutrition and dehydration. 'There's no flour, no rice, no milk or vegetables. Even when there's food in the market, the prices are too high for us. My four-year-old cries for bread. I can't bear it.' He recounts how their lives have shrunk into a punishing cycle of fear, hunger and helplessness. Former UN aid chief: Israel committing 'worst crime of the 21st century' in Gaza Read More » 'The bombs fall constantly. The children scream in terror. Gaza is in a state of disaster. We are unemployed. The borders are closed. No aid is coming in. As parents, we demand the world to act. This genocide must stop. 'We are not asking for luxury. We are asking for the basics - bread, water, medicine. We are asking for a chance for our children to live.' Hala's story is not an isolated tragedy. She is one of tens of thousands of children injured or killed in a war that has erased homes, schools and playgrounds, as well as whole families. Border closures have blocked any attempt to evacuate her for treatment. Her parents - both injured in separate attacks - desperately try to find sterile gauze, clean water and food to support her healing. 'She needs daily medical care,' says her mother, Mayada. 'She cries every day, remembering her hair. Her head is still full of ulcers and infections. If she doesn't get out soon, it will get worse.' Despite everything, Hala said she still dreams of a hospital bed in a foreign country where doctors will help her scalp heal. She dreams of brushing her hair and even one day becoming a doctor. 'I hope the world hears me. I hope someone helps me travel. I want my hair back. I want to be beautiful again.'
