RIYADH: Five years before Israeli forces bombarded the Gaza Strip in one of the most intense escalations of force the region has witnessed, one baby girl was given a new lease of life. 

Baby Haneen, who was born on Oct. 21, 2017 as a conjoined twin with her sister Farah, underwent surgery at the King Abdullah Specialized Children’s Hospital in Riyadh at less than two months old.

The complex surgery to separate her from her sister, who sadly did not have the necessary organs to live and was thus treated as a parasitic twin, would take up to 15 hours to complete and was led by pediatric surgeon Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, who had already carried out 44 successful twin separation procedures.

As of 2023, as part of the Saudi Program for the Separation of Conjoined Twins for poor families, Dr. Al-Rabeeah has evaluated more than 134 sets of conjoined twins, and separated 59 sets of twins from 24 countries, with a success rate close to 100 percent.

“We brought a smile on the face of the parents of those twins, and we managed to take (Haneen) back to Gaza in 2018,” Dr. Al-Rabeeah, who is also the supervisor general of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, said in the latest episode of the Arab News show “Frankly Speaking.”

The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund reported in May this year that Haneen, now six years old, was alive and thriving, despite health issues including the loss of a leg and kidney problems.

“Despite her challenges, Haneen has a positive outlook on life. She loves playing with other children, attending kindergarten, singing, and helping her mother with housework. She always greets people with a smile and brings positive energy to her family and those around her. Haneen dreams of becoming a doctor in the future and helping children,” the PCRF site read, adding that Haneen had joined their amputee program, which helps children with amputations living in the Gaza Strip.

However, with much of northern Gaza — Haneen’s home — destroyed by Israeli military action, Dr. Al-Rabeeah fears the worst.

“Now, I am not sure as of today whether Haneen is alive, whether her parents are alive, or all of this work that has been done by Saudi Arabia has been lost,” he said. “It’s painful for me until I secure that Haneen and her parents are alive.”

DUBAI: The governor of Tokyo hopes World Expo 2030 in Riyadh will be an exciting and sustainable event with the potential to “surprise the world.”

Speaking to Arab News Japan on Saturday, Gov. Koike Yuriko offered her best wishes to Saudi Arabia after Riyadh this week won its bid to host the prestigious event.

“I’d like to congratulate the Kingdom,” she said. “And I hope the Expo … would be an exciting one (and) make the people of the world surprised.”

Japan will pass the Expo baton to the Kingdom after Osaka hosts the event in 2025. Speaking on the sidelines of the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, Koike said she hoped the event in Riyadh would be a “sustainable one.”

Saudi Arabia, the Gulf region and Japan should learn from one another and collaborate in order to achieve decarbonization and other green initiatives, the governor said.

“Saudi Arabia and the UAE are producing countries, while Japan is a buying one. Both regions already collaborate and can share knowledge and initiatives to seek the best ways to save the great climate,” she said.

Tokyo’s first female governor, Koike also spoke about the plans and initiatives in place to make the city greener.

“To tackle climate change in Tokyo is very challenging,” she said. “Our timeline is to curb CO2 emissions by 2030 and (achieve) net zero by 2050.”

As 70 percent of Tokyo’s CO2 emissions come from residential property, Koike said the city would implement a new policy in 2025 requiring all new buildings to install solar or renewable energy equipment.

“This is the very first regulation that requests people, or especially house-builders, to set solar panels or solar cells.”

Next year, Tokyo will host the SusHi Tech summit, which aims to make Tokyo a smart city and promote a digital economy. The event will also encourage startups to come up with new initiatives to help Tokyo achieve its green goals.

On the situation in the Gaza Strip, Koike said she was “anxious” for the Palestinian people.

“I have asked a Japanese company, which runs the sanitary goods products in that area, to send their products to children and women in Gaza,” she said. “The Japanese government previously supported building a school for deaf children. But that was bombed many years ago.”

Koike said she hoped the crisis could be resolved as soon as possible.