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International Architectural Competition to Reconstruct Al-Nouri Mosque in Mosul

The Al Hadba Minaret which was a Mosul landmark before and after it was destroyed by ISIS- AAWSAT AR
The Al Hadba Minaret which was a Mosul landmark before and after it was destroyed by ISIS- AAWSAT AR
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International Architectural Competition to Reconstruct Al-Nouri Mosque in Mosul

The Al Hadba Minaret which was a Mosul landmark before and after it was destroyed by ISIS- AAWSAT AR
The Al Hadba Minaret which was a Mosul landmark before and after it was destroyed by ISIS- AAWSAT AR

The Joint Steering Committee of UNESCO’s project for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Al Hadba Minaret and the Al-Nouri Mosque in Mosul Iraq took new steps to push on the reconstruction of the two architectural landmarks in Mosul’s Old City.

This came as the Committee was holding its 3rd session, which announced the initiation of the third phase of the UNESCO initiative to “revive the spirit of Mosul”.

Following the meeting, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said that "today marks the culmination of many months of hard work, but also of cooperation, dedication and determination to ensure that we all move ahead together, side by side, to revive the spirit of Mosul. At the end of phase one of the reconstruction of the Al-Nouri Mosque complex, I wish to reiterate UNESCO’s firm commitment to the successful implementation of the project for Mosul, for Iraq, and for the world."

Acting on behalf of the Committee, UNESCO will launch an international architectural competition for the reconstruction of Al-Nouri Mosque. The competition will incorporate the input of the residents of Mosul who will be invited to take part in a large-scale consultation concerning the main reconstruction options for the Minaret and the Mosque. These activities’ timeline will depend on the ongoing response to COVID-19 in Mosul.

The second phase of the Revive the Spirit of Mosul Project involves the consolidation of the remaining base and reconstruction of the Minaret and Mosque and will begin once field and soil investigations are completed and after an extensive consultation with the local community on the design of the edifice and on whether to make the Minaret lean to one side as the original did.

The Joint Steering Committee endorsed the reconstruction of the Al Hadba Minaret in its original location and opted for an intermediate solution for Al Nouri Mosque, aimed at maintaining the visual aspects of the building as it was before its destruction in 2017.

Recalling that “Al Nouri Mosque is a cultural asset, an archaeological and historical monument,” Iraq’s Minister of Culture expressed “a strong desire to maintain the authenticity of Al Nouri Mosque with the least modification.

The project, supported by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), aims to restore and reconstruct the historic landmarks of Mosul, notably the emblematic Al-Nouri Mosque and its celebrated, 45-meter tall leaning Al-Hadba Minaret, built more than 840 years ago, historic and defining structures which were all but leveled by violent extremists who occupied the city from 2014 to 2017. The project also provides employment opportunities and job training.

It is an integral part of UNESCO’s flagship initiative Revive the Spirit of Mosul and the Organization’s response for the recovery of one of Iraq’s most iconic cities through the revival of education, heritage and cultural life.

For her part, Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, the United Arab Emirates’ Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development of the United Arab Emirates said: “We have come a long way since we set out our vision for the project which reerects a cultural and historical treasure. We will continue to engage Maslawis throughout the process and are committed to train and hire more Iraqis in the project.”

The first phase of the project, which began in early 2019 and lasted a year, consisted of clearing and demining the site, documenting and assessing it, stabilizing parts that could be salvaged as well as overall planning.

In October 2019, UNESCO, the UAE and the Government of Iraq agreed to undertake the reconstruction of two churches in the Old City of Mosul: The Al-Tahera Syriac Catholic Church and the Conventual Church of Our Lady of the Clock, with a view to reviving the cultural diversity that has characterized the history of Mosul over the centuries. he President of the Sunni Waqf of Iraq, Saad Kambash for his part said that “rebuilding Al-Nouri Mosque, Al-Hadba Minaret and Al saa’a and Al Tahera Churches, is an essential part of the process of reviving the Spirit of Mosul, spreading hope and enhancing community cohesion”.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the third meeting of the Joint Steering Committee was held virtually. It was co-chaired by the Minister of Culture of Iraq, Abdulameer Al-Hamdani, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, and the Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO, Ernesto Ottone R., with the participation of the President of the Sunni Waqf of Iraq, Saad Kambash, the Representative of the Christian Waqf, Safaa Saffo, and Nicolas Tixier, of the Provincial Dominican Order.

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Gaza Wedding Cheers Drown Out Sound of Israeli Airstrikes

Palestinians gather at a wedding in the Al-Nasser neighborhood, west of Gaza City, in April. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Palestinians gather at a wedding in the Al-Nasser neighborhood, west of Gaza City, in April. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Gaza Wedding Cheers Drown Out Sound of Israeli Airstrikes

Palestinians gather at a wedding in the Al-Nasser neighborhood, west of Gaza City, in April. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Palestinians gather at a wedding in the Al-Nasser neighborhood, west of Gaza City, in April. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Since the announcement of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza last October, Israeli violations have continued and the toll of dead and wounded has climbed. Yet, that has not stopped residents of the Palestinian enclave — almost entirely devastated by war — from breaking into celebratory wedding cheers that, if only briefly, cut through the buzz of drones and the thunder of airstrikes.

In recent weeks, residents in Khan Younis, Al-Shati refugee camp, Shujaiya and other areas have held public wedding celebrations attended by relatives and neighbors, reviving scenes absent from Gaza throughout more than two years of war.

Alaa Moussa, 33, from the Sheikh Nasser area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, lost her husband in an Israeli strike in mid-2024. She said she married in late April a man four years older than her who had also lost his wife and two children in a strike that hit displaced persons’ tents in the Al-Mawasi area of the same city.

“I accepted only a symbolic dowry of no more than 1,500 Jordanian dinars ($2,100), because it has become insignificant under these difficult circumstances,” Moussa told Asharq Al-Awsat.

She held what she described as a “modest wedding” among the tents of displaced families in Al-Mawasi, where one of the tents has become the couple’s new home.

“The war has not stopped, yet like many others we are searching for moments of joy despite all the pain we have endured and continue to endure in Gaza amid unrelenting attacks,” she remarked.

Moussa, who had no children with her late husband, said she saw no issue in marrying a man with three children “despite some criticism” from relatives and those around her.

“I will raise them as though they were my own,” she added.

Palestinians gather at a wedding in the Al-Nasser neighborhood, west of Gaza City, in April. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

‘Social criticism’

Israel has imposed restrictions and a tight blockade on Gaza since the early 1990s, tightening them further after Hamas seized control of the enclave nearly 19 years ago. Unemployment rose from 29.7 percent in 2007 to 45 percent in 2023, the year the war erupted at its close.

Abdullah Farhat, 29, from Al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City, was among those whose hopes of marriage and starting a family were delayed for years by Gaza’s harsh economic conditions.

Farhat told Asharq Al-Awsat he recently married a woman two years older than him who had lost her husband at the start of the current war.

He said he paid little attention to what he described as “social criticism” over “marrying a widow or the age difference.”

“My convictions did not change, especially after we found mutual acceptance,” he stated.

Return of wedding halls

Months after the ceasefire, wedding gatherings gradually returned in some areas. Youth parties have also resurfaced, and some wedding halls have reopened to customers.

Ayman Muhaysin, 26, from the Shujaiya neighborhood east of Gaza City, who is displaced in a school turned shelter in the Rimal district, held his wedding last month in a wedding hall in his neighborhood.

He said he paid 4,000 shekels (about $1,300) for the venue and a similar amount for a separate gathering for male relatives and friends, in keeping with Gaza traditions in which the groom’s celebration is held one day with male relatives and friends, followed the next day by a reception attended by women inside the hall, while close male relatives from both families gather outside.

Ayman Muhaysin celebrates his wedding in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City in April. (Photo provided by Muhaysin)

Muhaysin works in a shop earning 1,500 shekels a month. After the wedding, he moved into a classroom where he had been living with his four brothers, who relocated to a neighboring classroom to stay with their parents and three sisters.

Muhaysin said he had to borrow heavily to finance the wedding but did not regret it.

“I lost my brother during the war, along with many relatives, but this is life. We are searching for whatever brings joy to our hearts despite the hardships we face,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Exorbitant prices

Dozens of wedding halls built along Gaza’s Mediterranean coast were destroyed by Israeli forces during the war. Some restaurants and investors have since opened new venues west of Gaza City, though many residents consider their prices exorbitant.

Mohammed Ghanem, an owner of a wedding hall in Gaza City, explained that prices are high because of the cost of constructing these halls.

“The lack of electricity, operating private generators and securing fuel for them all add to expenses, in addition to the salaries of male and female employees providing wedding services,” he underlined.

Ghanem said prices were “close to what wedding halls charged before the war,” but noted that the new venues “do not have the same level of amenities and equipment that halls once had.”

Recently, Arab and Islamic charitable organizations have begun sponsoring mass wedding ceremonies in Gaza and providing financial support to newlyweds as part of efforts “to ease the burden on young people, tens of thousands of whom rushed to register for such an opportunity.”

Features

Caspian Sea Provides Lifeline for Iran amid Sanctions, Blockade

An Iranian man walks past the map of Iran, with its citizens holding hands, painted on a wall in the capital Tehran on May 9, 2026. (AFP)
An Iranian man walks past the map of Iran, with its citizens holding hands, painted on a wall in the capital Tehran on May 9, 2026. (AFP)
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Caspian Sea Provides Lifeline for Iran amid Sanctions, Blockade

An Iranian man walks past the map of Iran, with its citizens holding hands, painted on a wall in the capital Tehran on May 9, 2026. (AFP)
An Iranian man walks past the map of Iran, with its citizens holding hands, painted on a wall in the capital Tehran on May 9, 2026. (AFP)

Amid the regional tensions and western sanctions, a complex network of supply routes is beginning to emerge, underscoring the alliances between Russia, Iran and China in confronting mounting US pressure on Iran’s military program and its ability to maintain its production.

In March, Israel carried out a “one of the most significant” strikes on Iran targeting its naval command center at the port of Bandar Anzali, located on the Caspian Sea.

The Caspian Sea, a huge body of water hundreds of miles north of the Gulf. Routinely overlooked, the Caspian has taken on new significance as a trade route linking Russia and Iran, reported The New York Times on Saturday.

For two allies that have been embroiled in wars and facing more Western sanctions than any other country, the waterway provides a passageway for both overt and covert trade — shipments that have helped Iran persist as an adversary to the United States despite overwhelming American military superiority.

Russia is shipping drone components to Iran via the Caspian Sea, US officials say, helping Iran rebuild its offensive abilities after losing roughly 60 percent of its drone arsenal during recent fighting. The officials spoke anonymously to divulge private military assessments.

Russia also provides goods that would typically pass through the Strait of Hormuz, now blockaded by the US Navy, as part of global trade.

Bigger than Japan, the Caspian is considered the largest lake in the world. Much of the trade passing through it is opaque. It has proved difficult to monitor from afar, not least because ships plying the route between Russian and Iranian ports habitually turn off the transponders that allow for satellite tracking, according to maritime tracking groups.

“If you’re thinking about the ideal place for sanction evasion and military transfers, it’s the Caspian,” said Nicole Grajewski, a professor specializing in Iran and Russia at Sciences Po in Paris, according to NYT.

While both Russia and Iran are public about trade in commodities like wheat, trade in weapons systems is a different issue.

Drone shipments show the close defense partnership between Moscow and Tehran. While it is unlikely the Russian parts play a decisive role in Iran’s war with the United States and Israel, they help bolster Tehran’s drone arsenal. If the shipments continue, they will help Iran to quickly rebuild that arsenal, the US officials said.

The trade flowed in both directions in years past, the officials said, with Iran shipping drones to Russia for use in Ukraine even as Russia sent parts to Iran. The need for supplies from Iran diminished after July 2023 however, when Russia, under license from Iran, began producing its own model of the Shahed drone at a factory in Tatarstan.

Asian networks

The US Treasury on Friday announced sanctions against 10 individuals and companies, including several in China and Hong Kong, over accusations they aided Iran's efforts to secure weapons and the raw materials needed to build its Shahed drones and ballistic missiles.

The Treasury move, first reported by Reuters, comes days before US President Donald Trump plans to travel to China for a meeting with President Xi Jinping and as efforts to end the war with Iran have stalled.

In a statement, Treasury said it remained ready to take economic action against Iran's military industrial base ‌to prevent Tehran ‌from reconstituting its production capacity.

The Treasury said it was ‌also ⁠prepared to act ⁠against any foreign company supporting illicit Iranian commerce, including airlines, and could impose secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions that aid Iran's efforts, including those connected to China's independent "teapot" oil refineries.

Brett Erickson, managing principal at Obsidian Risk Advisors, said Treasury's actions were aimed at cracking down on Iran's ability to threaten ships operating in the Strait of Hormuz and regional allies.

Iran shut the ⁠Strait of Hormuz, a narrow chokepoint between Iran and ‌Oman through which a fifth of ‌the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas passes, after the US and Israel attacked ‌a large number of targets in Iran on February 28. Shipping ‌through the crucial waterway has ground to a near halt since the war began, sending energy prices sharply higher.

Iran is a major drone manufacturer and has the industrial capacity to produce around 10,000 a month, according to the British government-fund ‌Centre for Information Resilience.

Erickson said the sanctions were still narrowly focused, giving Iran more time to adapt ⁠and reroute ⁠procurement to other suppliers. The Treasury was also not yet going after Chinese banks that were keeping Iran's economy going, he added.

The companies facing sanctions include the China-based Yushita Shanghai International Trade Co Ltd for facilitating acquisition efforts for Iran to purchase weapons from China; Elite Energy FZCO for transferring millions of dollars to a Hong Kong company to aid the procurement effort; and Hong Kong-based HK Hesin Industry Co Ltd and Belarus-based Armory Alliance LLC for working as intermediaries in the procurements.

The sanctions also targeted Hong Kong-based Mustad Ltd for facilitating weapon procurement by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps; Iran-based Pishgam Electronic Safeh Co for procuring motors used in drones; and China-based Hitex Insulation Ningbo Co Ltd for supplying materials used in ballistic missiles.

Features

Marathon Marks Turning Point for Palestinian Runner Released from Israeli Prison

Palestinian Mohamad Al-Assi, who was released from Israeli detention six months ago, runs past Israel's separation wall as he trains ahead of the Palestine Marathon in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP)
Palestinian Mohamad Al-Assi, who was released from Israeli detention six months ago, runs past Israel's separation wall as he trains ahead of the Palestine Marathon in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP)
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Marathon Marks Turning Point for Palestinian Runner Released from Israeli Prison

Palestinian Mohamad Al-Assi, who was released from Israeli detention six months ago, runs past Israel's separation wall as he trains ahead of the Palestine Marathon in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP)
Palestinian Mohamad Al-Assi, who was released from Israeli detention six months ago, runs past Israel's separation wall as he trains ahead of the Palestine Marathon in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP)

Mohamad Al-Assi ran beneath the concrete wall as the sun rose over Bethlehem. His Nikes pounded the gravel, his breath fogging the air as graffiti and paint splatter blurred past with each stride.

The road along the barrier separating Israel from the occupied West Bank makes up a stretch of a marathon route that Al-Assi and thousands of others ran on Friday. The event is open to people in other parts of the world running in solidarity with the Palestinians and another, shorter race was happening in Gaza.

The race, known as the Palestine Marathon, was held for the first time in three years and was among the first big international events in the West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Festivals, conferences and holiday festivities that once drew thousands have been scaled back or canceled because of the war in Gaza and heightened Israeli restrictions.

It marked a turning point for Al-Assi, 27, who was released from Israeli detention six months ago. Video from that day shows him gaunt-faced and hollow-eyed, his once muscular legs weakened after more than two-and-a-half years of prison.

He began training in December, gradually upping his mileage every month since. He ran 62 miles (100 kilometers) that first month, and in April reached 135 miles (217 kilometers), according to his account on the tracking app Strava.

He jogs in the morning after his mother wakes him up in their home in Dheisheh, a Palestinian refugee camp made up of graffiti-covered cinderblock homes in tangled alleyways.

“The main difficulties we face are the cars on the roads and the presence of Israeli security forces along the route where I train,” Al-Assi said.

He had to suspend his training several times because of military operations in the camp.

“I would return home feeling hopeless because I couldn't do what I had intended to do,” Al-Assi said.

Running where roads are blocked

In the West Bank, runners cannot complete a 26.2-mile (42.2-kilometer) course without hitting a checkpoint or military gate, which is why Friday's marathon route looped around the same circuit twice.

They ran up through the narrow streets of two Palestinian refugee camps and down to a farming town next to Bethlehem where fields are divided by the concrete wall, barbed wire and cameras. The course hooked back to finish at Bethlehem’s Manger Square.

Organizers say the race highlights restrictions facing Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where checkpoints can disrupt even routine commutes and where open land for hiking, biking and running is increasingly taken by Israeli settlements and outposts.

“Marathon runners anywhere may ‘hit a wall’ under the physical and emotional strain of completing the 42-kilometer race course," they said on the marathon's website.

But in the West Bank, they added, "runners literally hit the Wall.”

At a time when the West Bank’s economy is struggling and in the shadow of Gaza's fragile ceasefire and stalled rebuilding efforts, the atmosphere in Bethlehem was celebratory. Crowds gathered near the Church of the Nativity to cheer runners at the race's early morning start and finish. Bagpipes blared and drummers pounded out traditional rhythms through streets along the route.

On a beachside road in Nuseirat in central Gaza — which is roughly the length of a marathon — 15 disabled people, including amputees, ran a 2K, and a couple of thousand of people ran a 5K. Thirteen years after the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, canceled a 2013 marathon because Hamas forbade women from participating, the women were back.

Haya Alnaji, a 22-year-old woman who ran in the 5K, said the number of people taking part reflected that Palestinians in Gaza were determined to live and persevere despite the devastation wrought by more than two years of war.

“All of Gaza loves sports,” she said.

Rebuilding body and spirit

Al-Assi was arrested in April 2023, and imprisoned under administrative detention, which allows Israel to hold detainees for months without charge. Between 3,000 and 4,000 Palestinians are being held under that system, according to Israeli rights groups and the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

In October 2023, Al-Assi was sentenced for transferring money to suspicious entities, a charge he denies. Israel closely monitors money transfers — particularly to Gaza — for fear that funds could end up in the hands of fighters. Palestinians, however, say donations and charitable contributions are often swept up in the dragnet. Israel’s military, Shin Bet and Prison Service did not answer questions about Al-Assi's charges.

In Israeli prisons, where detainees routinely complain of inadequate diets, Al-Assi said nearly everyone goes hungry. The weight he lost eroded the endurance built through 10 years of training.

“I have more muscle mass than fat, so when I lost weight, the loss came from my muscles rather than fat,” he said. “This had a major impact on my physical fitness.”

He also had to regain the mental fortitude to run a marathon.

“I was emotionally shattered after spending such a long period in prison,” he said.

On Friday, he collapsed to his knees, bowing and thanking God after finishing second overall, as supporters and journalists encircled him. He dedicated his run to Palestinians still in Israeli detention.

“After 32 months in prison, Mohamad Al-Assi is first in his class!” he shouted through tears, raising his hands and looking up to the sky.