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On a trip to southern Israel on Sunday as Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants who had crossed over from the Gaza Strip, The National was able to speak only to medics and armed Israeli men.
It was not by intention – civilians were simply nowhere to be seen. The area had since emptied after Hamas launched a barrage of thousands of rockets and sent hundreds of militants across the border in a well-planned operation on Saturday morning. The missiles smashed into homes as gunmen rampaged through the towns and settlements, killing civilians and taking hostages.
Nobody who spoke to The National recalled seeing a situation so bad, quite something for this part of Israel which has been bombarded the most by militant groups in Gaza in recent years.
“Have you ever seen what a bullet does to a human head?” said Moishe Paskesz, a volunteer paramedic bringing the wounded to a field hospital set up on Route 232 just outside Sderot.
He said was he teeming with adrenaline and ready to venture out once more but the scenes he had witnessed were so bad that he knew lasting trauma was on the way.
“We made the mistake yesterday of taking the bodies and remains in the ambulances,” he said.
“There were so many corpses that we ran out of vehicles and couldn’t transport the gravely injured, whose lives could potentially be saved.
“We now use trucks to take the dead away.”
He was proud about the work being done by paramedics such as himself and Yitzhak Drezner, another volunteer who gave a tour of a rudimentary ward of a few operating tables, with IV drips hanging from above.
“Many of the cases we’ve been called to are for PTSD, they’re hysterical and it’s our job to calm them down,” Mr Drezner said.
He, along with a number of religious colleagues, had to take the rare step of breaking the Shabbat. Jews are allowed to do so in life-and death-circumstances. Israel’s ultra-Orthodox rarely serve in the military for religious reasons and those who want to often choose the ambulance sector.
“It’s a 'mitzvah',” one explained, a good deed done in the name of Judaism.
Throughout the conversation, volunteers come up to shove food into the hands of journalists. The press are very much welcome.
That was not the case at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon, where the trauma seemed to be setting in.
Almost none of doctors who were moving around purposefully, focused on their mission, wanted to speak. Midwives on duty also refused to respond to questions.
One doctor who did, but did not want to be named, joked that no one his department would ever talk to journalists. “We are cursed. Any time one of us speaks to a journalist, we get killed or wounded.”
The staff that appeared the most broken were the hospital porters, whose job it was to deal with the dead.
The National spoke to two, who did not want to be named, one originally from Kazakhstan and the other from Ukraine.
The former had barely slept in two days. On his lunch break, he sat on a wall, showing The National video footage taken the night before of Israeli troops entering his hometown in pursuit of Hamas gunmen that were roaming the streets. His two-year-old son was tottering around the flat in a nappy, as his ex-wife tried to distract him from the situation outside.
He watched the footage while chain-smoking. A local millionaire philanthropist had recently come to the hospital to hand out hundreds of packets of cigarettes, as well as food from McDonalds.
A military helicopter interrupted his lunch as it roared into land. Two soldiers covered in foil blankets were rushed out, as a porter quickly blocked the view with a large plastic screen to preserve the dignity of the injured.
The few civilians in the waiting room sat around awaiting news about their loved ones. A child with a disability was receiving routine care – the hospital was continuing to admit patients who were not casualties of war.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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DUNE%3A%20PART%20TWO
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Results
ATP Dubai Championships on Monday (x indicates seed):
First round
Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Marton Fucsovics (HUN) bt Damir Dzumhur (BIH) 6-1, 7-6 (7/5)
Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) bt Karen Khachanov (RUS x4) 6-4, 6-1
Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) bt Milos Raonic (CAN x7) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
Race card
6.30pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
7.05pm: Meydan Cup – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,810m
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas – Group 3 (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Firebreak Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,600m
9.50pm: Meydan Classic – Conditions (TB) $$50,000 (T) 1,400m
9.25pm: Dubai Sprint – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,200m
The five pillars of Islam
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Saga Continues
Wu-Tang Clan
(36 Chambers / Entertainment One)
The%20specs
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The Sky Is Pink
Director: Shonali Bose
Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Saraf
Three stars
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Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier
Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August
Group A
Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar
Group B
UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Ferrari
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
if you go
The flights
Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes.
When to visit
March-May and September-November
Visas
Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.
SPECS
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Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
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The specs: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
Price, base: Dh1,731,672
Engine: 6.5-litre V12
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 770hp @ 8,500rpm
Torque: 720Nm @ 6,750rpm
Fuel economy: 19.6L / 100km
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua Based: Dubai, UAE Number of employees: 28 Sector: Financial services Investment: $9.5m Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
DIVINE%20INTERVENTOIN
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