Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
On October 6, 79-year-old Chaim Peri was telling his family stories from the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, which had taken place exactly 50 years before.
When war with Egypt and Syria became apparent, Mr Peri would tell of the mere hours that passed before he was inside Egypt with the Israeli military.
Hours after regaling his war stories, Mr Peri was abducted from his home by militants.
“Now 50 years later, terrorists come into our country and it takes the army more than 10 hours to [go] such a short distance. I think people are eventually going to have to answer for that,” said Mr Peri's grandson Mai Albini.
He is referring to the relatively slow and initially chaotic response by Israeli security forces on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel. The collective failures that led to the assault from Gaza have seen calls for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign.
More than 1,400 people were killed and about 230 people were kidnapped by Hamas and taken into Gaza. Among them was Mr Peri, abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
The priority right now, says Mr Albini, should not be on the war taking place in Gaza, but on releasing the hostages.
Everyone is talking about winning the war, I think we lost this war on October 7. The best thing we can do right now is to bring them home
Mai Albini,
Abducted Israeli's grandson
“Everyone is talking about winning the war, I think we lost this war on October 7. The best thing we can do right now is to bring them home … right now nothing is more important” he said next to the municipality building of Jerusalem, just after an air raid siren had sent people rushing to shelters
Few – if any – residential areas in southern Israel are situated as close to Gaza as Kibbutz Nir Oz, which Mr Albini describes as his second home. About a quarter of its 400 residents are believed to have been killed, kidnapped, or injured on October 7 – the rest have left.
Mr Albini is scathing in his criticism of the government – both for what he says is its lack of support for the people in the current crisis as well as its actions in the last ten months.
Mass demonstrations have erupted across Israel in the past ten months to protest significant judicial reforms introduced by the most far-right Israel cabinet to date.
“We’ve seen now that this government is an empty eggshell. People all around Israel are doing amazing things for the hostages, for the people whose homes are gone,” said Mr Albini.
“I'm deeply sad to say that we’ve kind of proven what we’ve been saying all these months. Now, in the moment of truth, when we need them the most, they are just not there.”
The temperature is high in Israel after October 7, something that politicians and civilians have often referred to as Israel's own 9/11.
But even as international calls grow for a ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli authorities are refusing to back down.
The Israeli government has carried out significant retaliatory strikes since October 7, with soldiers and tanks now inside the enclave. More than 8,500 people have been killed in Gaza, about half of them children.
“I sympathise with all the civilians, everywhere. I keep thinking about the children, always. The elderly and the grown-ups, they know how this world can be,” said Mr Albini.
“The children do not deserve this, Israeli children do not deserve to be taken hostage and celebrate their birthdays in dark tunnels. Palestinian children don't deserve to have their homes bombed. We are stuck with this government, they are struck with a terrorist organisation who doesn’t care a tiny bit for them.”
A resident of Jerusalem for two years, Mr Albini is vocal in his criticism of Hamas and the Israeli government, but also his love for ordinary Palestinian people.
“I walk with Palestinians, I love them, they are my friends. They are here and they are not going anywhere, and we are here, and we’re not going anywhere. So only two options – keep fighting, or choose peace.”
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The line up
Friday: Giggs, Sho Madjozi and Masego
Saturday: Nas, Lion Bbae, Roxanne Shante and DaniLeigh
Sole DXB runs from December 6 to 8 at Dubai Design District. Weekend pass is Dh295 while a one day pass is Dh195. Tickets are available from www.soledxb.com
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The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
MATCH INFO
Chelsea 1 (Hudson-Odoi 90 1')
Manchester City 3 (Gundogan 18', Foden 21', De Bruyne 34')
Man of the match: Ilkay Gundogan (Man City)
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Slow loris biog
From: Lonely Loris is a Sunda slow loris, one of nine species of the animal native to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore
Status: Critically endangered, and listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list due to growing demand in the global exotic pet trade. It is one of the most popular primate species found at Indonesian pet markets
Likes: Sleeping, which they do for up to 18 hours a day. When they are awake, they like to eat fruit, insects, small birds and reptiles and some types of vegetation
Dislikes: Sunlight. Being a nocturnal animal, the slow loris wakes around sunset and is active throughout the night
Superpowers: His dangerous elbows. The slow loris’s doe eyes may make it look cute, but it is also deadly. The only known venomous primate, it hisses and clasps its paws and can produce a venom from its elbow that can cause anaphylactic shock and even death in humans
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
