Egypt Accuses Muslim Brotherhood of Spreading Lies about Prison Conditions

An Egyptian policeman near watch towers at Tora prison on the southern outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo, Feb. 11, 2020. (AFP)
An Egyptian policeman near watch towers at Tora prison on the southern outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo, Feb. 11, 2020. (AFP)
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Egypt Accuses Muslim Brotherhood of Spreading Lies about Prison Conditions

An Egyptian policeman near watch towers at Tora prison on the southern outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo, Feb. 11, 2020. (AFP)
An Egyptian policeman near watch towers at Tora prison on the southern outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo, Feb. 11, 2020. (AFP)

The security authorities in Egypt have accused the Muslim Brotherhood of spreading lies about the conditions in prisons in the country.

In a statement reported by Egypt’s state-owned news agency, a security source denied what was broadcast by pro-Brotherhood satellite channels on violations against sentenced leaders from the banned organization.

Most of the organization’s leaders, which is deemed terrorist Egyptian authorities, are in prison due to their involvement in violent acts that took place following the ouster of late former president Mohammed Morsi on July 3, 2013.

They were sentenced to life imprisonment, and some are facing the death penalty.

In a statement, the Ministry of Interior stressed that the rumors are false, dismissing them as ongoing attempts by pro-Brotherhood media to sow sedition.

It added that all prisoners were being provided with the necessary healthcare.

Egypt had previously organized visits by foreign officials to examine the situation at prisons and detention centers.

Moreover, it recently intensified its parliamentary and government action to respond to reports on the conditions at prisons.



Fears for Gaza Hospitals as Fuel and Aid Run Low

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
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Fears for Gaza Hospitals as Fuel and Aid Run Low

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled. - AFP

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday that hospitals have only two days' fuel left before they must restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory is being crippled.

The warning came a day after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant more than a year into the Gaza war.

The United Nations and others have repeatedly decried humanitarian conditions, particularly in northern Gaza, where Israel said Friday it had killed two commanders involved in Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war.

Gaza medics said an overnight Israeli raid on the cities of Beit Lahia and nearby Jabalia resulted in dozens killed or missing.

Marwan al-Hams, director of Gaza's field hospitals, told reporters all hospitals in the Palestinian territory "will stop working or reduce their services within 48 hours due to the occupation's (Israel's) obstruction of fuel entry".

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of 80 patients, including 8 in the intensive care unit" at Kamal Adwan hospital, one of just two partly operating in northern Gaza.

Kamal Adwan director Hossam Abu Safia told AFP it was "deliberately hit by Israeli shelling for the second day" Friday and that "one doctor and some patients were injured".

Late Thursday, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Muhannad Hadi, said: "The delivery of critical aid across Gaza, including food, water, fuel and medical supplies, is grinding to a halt."

He said that for more than six weeks, Israeli authorities "have been banning commercial imports" while "a surge in armed looting" has hit aid convoys.

Issuing the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, the Hague-based ICC said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe they bore "criminal responsibility" for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and crimes against humanity including over "the lack of food, water, electricity and fuel, and specific medical supplies".

At least 44,056 people have been killed in Gaza during more than 13 months of war, most of them civilians, according to figures from Gaza's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.