1. What is Autophagy?

Autophagy is a scientifically proven biological process in which cells break down and recycle damaged components and waste materials. This process helps:

Clean and repair cells

Reduce the risk of diseases

Slow down aging processes

Improve immune system function

Japanese scientist Yoshinori Ohsumi was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries related to autophagy.

---

2. Why Islamic fasting helps activate this process

Islamic fasting has specific characteristics:

Complete abstinence from food and drink for several hours (typically 12–16 hours)

No calorie intake during the fasting period

A fixed daily schedule (from dawn until sunset)

Repetition of this pattern consistently for one month

Scientifically, when the body does not receive energy for several hours, it begins using internal energy reserves. During this state, autophagy becomes more active, helping the body repair and renew itself.

---

3. A key scientific advantage of Islamic fasting structure

One important feature of Islamic fasting is its alignment with the body’s natural circadian rhythm (day–night biological clock). This alignment helps:

Regulate hormones more effectively

Improve insulin sensitivity

Enhance fat metabolism

Allow the body to enter a cellular repair state

Because eating is restricted to specific hours and follows a natural daily cycle, the body has sufficient time to perform maintenance and recovery processes.

---

4. Important note about other types of fasting

Scientifically, abstaining from food for extended periods can activate similar biological processes. However, Islamic fasting combines several beneficial features:

Precise timing

Consistent daily repetition

Balanced fasting duration (not too short and not excessive)

Alignment with natural biological rhythms

This combination allows the body to benefit from repair processes in a balanced and sustainable way.

---

Scientific conclusion

Islamic fasting helps activate autophagy, regulate metabolism, and improve immune and hormonal function. These effects are among the most important scientifically

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

English translation:

O you who have believed, fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become righteous.

Brief explanation:

This verse teaches that fasting is a command from God given not only to Muslims but also to earlier communities. The main purpose of fasting is to develop righteousness (taqwa), which means self-control, awareness of God, and avoiding wrongdoing. Fasting is therefore a spiritual practice that strengthens a person’s character and discipline, not just abstaining from food and drink.

Hamas has condemned Israel’s repeated threats to eliminate the resistance movement, stating that ongoing violations of the Gaza ceasefire reflect a complete disregard for international agreements and diplomatic efforts aimed at halting the genocide.

In a statement on Tuesday, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem criticized remarks by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who reaffirmed that Israel’s objective remains the “destruction of Hamas” and suggested giving US President Donald Trump room to intervene “in his own way.” 

Qassem said the comments reveal Israel’s blatant dismissal of political processes and international negotiations, underscoring the urgent need to defend Palestinian lives and sovereignty.

He described the renewed references to war as a form of psychological warfare, coming after two years of genocide in Gaza that left tens of thousands dead and caused widespread destruction, yet failed to achieve Israel’s stated objective of breaking Palestinian resistance.

The spokesperson said Israel’s continued military aggressions and threats reveal a deliberate effort to sabotage the ceasefire and intensify pressure on the Palestinian population.

Qassem called on the international community to impose sanctions on Israel. He welcomed a joint statement by 20 countries condemning Israel’s recent measures to tighten control over the occupied West Bank, stressing that such policies only deepen instability and oppression in the region.

Addressing governance in Gaza, Qassem stated that Hamas had agreed from the outset to establish a Gaza administrative committee and remains ready to transfer responsibilities in coordination with Palestinian factions, under the oversight of civil society representatives and international parties.

He attributed delays to Israeli obstruction and insufficient political and financial support from guarantor states.

Responding to statements by the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) foreign minister about readiness to assume control of Gaza, Qassem condemned the PA for limiting itself to media statements without taking practical steps and previously missing opportunities to establish unity mechanisms.

Qassem also condemned comments by US Ambassador to Occupied Palestine, Mike Huckabee as a “scandal” for US foreign policy.

In an interview released on Friday, Huckabee said that it would be “fine” if Israel occupied all of the land between the Nile River in Egypt and the Euphrates river in Syria and Iraq.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 172,000, most of them women and children.

Press TV’s website 

A group of Israeli settlers has been offered a lavish meal during a rare visit to a high-security prison where Palestinian detainees face harsh conditions, including restrictions during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The visit was reportedly organized by Israel Prison Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi, who hosted more than 20 settlers from Har Homa, an illegal settlement in the occupied Quds, the Middle East Eye reported on Monday.

According to the report, the group was transported to Nitzan Prison near Ramla for what was described as a “safari tour”. The tour’s itinerary included visits to multiple prison wings, among them a maximum-security section housing Palestinians accused of involvement with armed groups.

During the visit, detainees were made to lie on the floor in handcuffs as part of what prison officials characterized as standard security protocol during operational procedures, the report said.

The tour also featured a religious lesson and concluded with a lavish lunch for the settlers, it said.

Observers noted the unusual nature of the visit, as access to Israeli prison facilities is typically restricted.

The Israeli regime has historically limited entry, barring many rights organizations and tightening rules on family and legal visits. In recent months, officials reaffirmed a ban preventing Red Cross representatives from meeting Palestinian detainees, citing security concerns.

That comes as Palestinian prisoner advocacy groups have reported worsening conditions inside Israeli prisons during the ongoing holy month of Ramadan. Lawyers and rights organizations say Palestinian detainees have struggled to observe the fast, with some prisoners not having been informed of the beginning of Ramadan and denied adequate pre-dawn and evening meals.

Advocates argue that such measures deepen the hardship faced by Palestinians already enduring severe restrictions in Israeli prisons.

Press TV’s website 

Dozens of international humanitarian organizations have petitioned Israel’s top court to block an order that would force at least 37 NGOs to halt humanitarian operations in the besieged Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, and east al-Quds.

The NGOs argued that, as an occupying authority, the Israeli regime “must facilitate relief for civilians under its control” in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.

Leading organizations, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Oxfam, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and CARE, were notified on December 30, 2025, that their registrations had expired. They were given 60 days to renew by submitting lists of their Palestinian staff.

Failure to comply would force these organizations to suspend operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including east al-Quds, beginning March 1.

The NGOs warned that compliance with the Israeli order would expose local Palestinian employees to potential retaliation and violate data protection laws.

“Turning humanitarian organizations into an information-gathering arm for a party to the conflict stands in total contradiction to the principle of neutrality,” the petition states.

Since the onset of the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, at least 133 NGO workers have been killed in the besieged Palestinian territories, including 15 MSF staff members.

Filipe Ribeiro, MSF head of mission in the Palestinian territories, noted that the enforcement of the Israeli ban is already taking effect in practice, with aid supplies blocked and visas denied to foreign staff.

“We haven’t been able to get international staff inside Gaza since the beginning of January. Israeli authorities denied any entry to Gaza, but also to the West Bank,” Ribeiro said last week.

The humanitarian organizations said they collectively provide more than half of all food assistance in the besieged Palestinian territories and oversee 60 percent of field hospital operations.

The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Netherlands says US “double standards” have been exposed after the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) published a Persian-language video instructing Iranians on how to make contact with the agency.

The Israeli regime has granted only 66 building permits to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank over an 11-year period, Israeli media reports say.

Israel’s Haaretz daily, quoting sources, reported on Sunday that only 66 building permits were issued to Palestinians between 2009 and 2020.

This is while 22,000 permits were granted to illegal Israeli settlers during the same period, it said.

The report cited widespread demolitions carried out by the Israeli authorities since January in the Taawun neighborhood, south of Nablus in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.

Al-Taawun, it added, is “just one example of the accelerating pace of demolitions across the West Bank.”

The neighborhood is located in Area C and “did not receive building permits from the Israeli authorities, despite being far from any settlement or access road.”

“As most of the West Bank is off-limits to Palestinian development, residents are forced to build without permits,” the Israeli daily commented.

In January alone, the Israeli army demolished a total of 24 Palestinian buildings in Area C due to the lack of building permits.

The Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recently said at least 2,461 Palestinian buildings were demolished over the past two years due to the lack of building permits, up from 4,984 structures over the previous nine years.

As a result, around 3,500 people lost their homes during those two years.

The demolition campaign over the past two years has coincided with the displacement of around 80 Palestinian communities due to the rapid expansion of settler farms and outposts.

Palestinians view the measures as a prelude to the formal annexation of the West Bank.

Israel recently approved a series of sweeping measures in the occupied West Bank, which Palestinians say constitute a blatant breach of the Oslo Accords and amount to a de facto annexation of Palestinian land.

The policy, announced by Israel's extremist finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and minister of military affairs Israel Katz, significantly alters governance in the West Bank, opening the way for expanded settlements, land seizures, and the erosion of Palestinian civil rights.

The measures lift longstanding legal restrictions on Israeli settlers, accelerate settlement expansion, and extend Israeli military and “civil” authority into areas that were previously under partial Palestinian control.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has strongly denounced Israel's actions as part of its ongoing colonial policy, labeling them a war crime and a grave breach of international law and UN resolutions.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has warned that US-Israeli plans to introduce digital wallets in Gaza risk turning access to money, food, and aid into tools of coercion under the regime's oversight.

The Geneva-based rights organization warned that plans to implement a digital economy in the besieged Palestinian territory could turn access to money and humanitarian aid into tools of coercion, giving the Tel Aviv regime and its allies unprecedented control over daily life and essential services in Gaza.

The plan, outlined by Israeli businessman and former intelligence officer Liran Tancman, involves creating what he described as a “secure digital backbone” to support electronic payments, education, and financial services, alongside an “Amazon-like logistics system.”

Tancman presented the scheme at a Washington event, describing it as a foundation for Gaza’s reconstruction.

Euro-Med Monitor said the approach risks turning financial technology into a tool of coercion, enabling real-time monitoring, arbitrary restrictions, and selective freezing of funds—particularly affecting journalists, activists, and human rights defenders.

“Subjecting the right of access to financial resources to a security authority undermines the core of economic and social rights, damages the right to food and human dignity, and breaches international humanitarian law,” the Monitor said.

It warned that such a system could effectively allow collective punishment, in violation of the prohibition on using starvation as a warfare tactic.

Euro-Med Monitor also highlighted the role of Tancman in the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which sparked outrage over its so-called aid distribution practices during Israel’s genocidal war against the people of Gaza.

It said field data suggest that the foundation’s policies contributed to engineered starvation conditions in Gaza, resulting in around 1,200 civilian deaths and thousands of injuries as desperate residents attempted to access food assistance.

The organization also said that proposals to link aid distribution to “biometric checks" would effectively transform humanitarian relief into a system of surveillance, data collection, and security control.

Currently, Israel enforces extensive security classifications over Palestinians, limiting movement and access to services. Euro-Med Monitor warned that integrating financial systems into this framework could extend these restrictions to money itself, further increasing dependency and control over the population.

The human rights group called for any digital infrastructure in Gaza to operate under full Palestinian sovereignty over data and financial systems.

It also called for independent audits, transparency of operators and funders, non-digital alternatives for essential services, and robust appeal mechanisms for asset freezes or transaction restrictions.

The Monitor urged the establishment of an independent Palestinian civil authority to govern Gaza’s financial and technological systems without interference from the occupation.

It said that genuine economic recovery requires lifting unlawful restrictions on crossings, cash flow, goods, and communications rather than replacing a physical blockade with a “smart” digital one that perpetuates violations.

The Gaza Strip has been under a near-continuous blockade imposed by Israel since 2007, restricting the movement of people, goods, and capital.

The blockade, followed by two years of genocide and ethnic cleansing, has left Gaza’s economy in severe decline, with high unemployment, widespread poverty, and limited access to essential services such as healthcare, electricity, and clean water.

Press TV’s website 

The leaders of Greenland and Denmark have rejected US President Donald Trump’s plan to dispatch a hospital ship to the Arctic territory, saying the island does not need foreign medical assistance.

Trump, in a Truth Social post on Saturday, announced he would send a “great hospital boat to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there. It’s on the way.”

Denmark’s Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told reporters on Sunday that his government had not been made aware of the plan. He said there was “no need for special health care efforts” in Greenland.

“Trump is constantly tweeting about Greenland. So this is undoubtedly an expression of the new normal that has taken hold in international politics,” Lund Poulsen added.

Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen also rejected the plan in a Facebook post, saying Greenland has “a public health system where care is free for citizens.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen responded on Instagram, without mentioning Trump or the United States directly, writing that she is “happy to live in a country where there is free and equal access to health care for everyone.” She added, “The same approach exists in Greenland.”

Greenland has six hospitals serving a population of fewer than 60,000 people. In early February, the territory’s government signed an agreement with Copenhagen to improve Greenlandic patients’ access to treatment in Danish hospitals.

Trump’s latest remarks are seen as part of his continuing pressure campaign on Greenland. The US president has repeatedly said the United States needs to acquire the semi-autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark for national security reasons.

He later backed down on earlier threats to seize Greenland unilaterally after striking a “framework” deal in January with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, intended to ensure greater US influence.

However, at the Munich Security Conference this month, Frederiksen said she still feared US intentions toward the island. She called the pressure from the United States “unacceptable” and “outrageous.”

Press TV’s website 

Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement has strongly condemned the Israeli rgeime’s “bloody massacre” in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa region, which killed roughly a dozen people and wounded many more, calling it a flagrant violation of humanitarian values and international conventions.

The political bureau of Ansarullah said on Sunday that the Israeli airstrike, which targeted a neighborhood inside the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in the city of Sidon in southern Lebanon, falls within the framework of Israel’s expansionist agendas.

It said the crime extends beyond attacking Lebanese civilians and infringing upon Lebanon’s sovereignty, describing it as part of attempts to enforce new dynamics associated with the initiative of the so-called “Greater Israel” and the “New Middle East.”

It also expressed its complete support for the Lebanese nation and the Hezbollah resistance movement in the face of Israeli acts of aggression backed by US and Western threats.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said on Saturday that Israeli strikes on eastern Lebanon killed 10 people and wounded 24, including three children.

Two officials with Hezbollah said eight members of the resistance movement were killed in strikes near the village of Rayak in northeast Lebanon late on Friday.

One of the Hezbollah officials said three of the dead were local commanders and identified them as Ali al-Moussawi, Mohammed al-Moussawi and Hussein Yaghi.

Yaghi was the son of prominent Hezbollah official and one of its founders, Mohammed Yaghi, who died in 2023. Mohammed Yaghi was also a close aide to late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah who was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut in September 2024.