Samy Magdy
Samy Magdy is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Samy Magdy
More than 1,300 people died during Hajj, many of them after walking in the scorching heat
By Samy Magdy — June 24, 2024
CAIRO (AP) — More than 1,300 people died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced extreme high temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom, Saudi authorities announced Sunday.
Hundreds died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia amid intense heat, officials say
By Samy Magdy — June 20, 2024
MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia has not commented on the death toll amid the heat during the pilgrimage, required of every able Muslim once in their life, nor offered any causes for those who died. However, hundreds of people had lined up at the Emergency Complex in Al-Muaisem neighborhood in Mecca, trying to get information about their missing family members.
Pilgrims commence the final rites of Hajj as Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha
By Samy Magdy — June 18, 2024
MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Masses of pilgrims on Sunday embarked on a symbolic stoning of the devil in Saudi Arabia under the soaring summer heat. The ritual marks the final days of the Hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage, and the start of the Eid al-Adha celebrations for Muslims around the world.
Muslim pilgrims resume symbolic stoning of the devil as they wrap up Hajj pilgrimage in deadly heat
By Samy Magdy — June 17, 2024
MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — With the final days of the Hajj coinciding with Eid al-Adha, thousands of Muslim pilgrims used the early morning hours Monday to perform the second day of the symbolic stoning of the devil, as noontime summer heat caused heatstroke among many.
Muslims start the Hajj against the backdrop of the devastating Israel-Hamas war
By Samy Magdy — June 14, 2024
MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — This year’s Hajj came against the backdrop of the raging war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Palestinian militants, which pushed the Middle East to the brink of a regional war between Israel and its allies on one side and Iran-backed militant groups on the other.
More than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims arrive in Mecca for annual Hajj pilgrimage
By Samy Magdy — June 12, 2024
MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi officials say more than 1.5 million foreign Muslim pilgrims have streamed into Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca since Tuesday, ahead of the start of the Hajj later this week, as the annual pilgrimage returns to its monumental scale. Saudi officials have said they expect the number of pilgrims this year to exceed 2023.
Independent UN experts urge Yemen’s Houthis to free detained Baha’i followers
By Samy Magdy — May 21, 2024
CAIRO (AP) — The Houthis have waged an all-out campaign against all political and religious opponents and have held thousands in detention, where torture is rampant.
UN chief says it’s time to ‘truly flood’ Gaza with aid and calls starvation there an outrage
By Amr Nabil, Samy Magdy, and Sam Metz — March 25, 2024
RAFAH CROSSING, Egypt (AP) — He spoke a day after the U.N. Security Council failed to reach consensus on the wording of a U.S.-sponsored resolution supporting “an immediate and sustained cease-fire.”
Famine is said to be imminent in northern Gaza as Israel raids the main hospital again
By Wafaa Shurafa, Tia Goldenberg, and Samy Magdy — March 18, 2024
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The ministry said around 30,000 people are sheltering at the hospital, including patients, medical staff and people who have fled their homes seeking safety.
A Gaza family uprooted by war and grieving their losses shares a somber Ramadan meal in a tent
By Samy Magdy and Mohammed Jahjouh — March 12, 2024
MUWASI, Gaza Strip (AP) — Some 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced in the war, more than half of them crammed into the far south around the town of Rafah.
An effort to get aid to Gaza by sea is moving ahead. But the first ship is still waiting in Cyprus
By Samy Magdy and Wafaa Shurafa — March 11, 2024
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel says it welcomes the sea deliveries and would inspect Gaza-bound cargo before it leaves Cyprus.
Ramadan begins in Gaza with hunger worsening and no end to the war in sight
By Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy — March 11, 2024
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) —
Israeli officials to meet on a proposed pause in Gaza while the Cabinet is set to OK a Rafah plan
By Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy — February 26, 2024
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Negotiators face an unofficial deadline of the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan around March 10.
Israel searches for traces of Hamas in raid of key Gaza hospital packed with patients
By Najib Jobain, Samy Magdy, and Jack Jeffery — November 15, 2023
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas and Gaza health officials deny militants operate in Shifa, and Palestinians and rights groups say Israel has recklessly endangered civilians as it seeks to eradicate Hamas.
Israel pushes deeper into Gaza and frees Hamas captive; Netanyahu rejects calls for cease-fire
By Najib Jobain, Lee Keath, and Samy Magdy — October 30, 2023
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Gaza Health Ministry later said three people were killed in the car that was hit. The Israeli military declined to comment on where its forces were deployed.
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