Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken left the Middle East on Thursday with divisions growing between Washington and Israel over plans to end the Gaza war, as top Hamas officials began meetings with mediators from Egypt and Qatar.
Mediation efforts to find a formula acceptable to the warring sides to end the fighting have floundered as the death and destruction in Gaza continues, with few clear avenues to end the crisis.
Egyptian security sources meanwhile told The National that troops stationed on the nation's border with Israel and Gaza have been reinforced and put on high alert in response to Israeli threats to its forces.
Israel intends to shift ground operations to Rafah, a southern Gaza town where at least a million displaced Palestinians have found refuge.
Recent operations have devastated Khan Younis, about 10km from the border, once home to around 300,000 people.
Egypt fears that Palestinians living in makeshift camps on the Gaza side of Rafah will be forced to flee across the border into its Sinai Peninsula if Israeli forces take their search for Hamas fighters and facilities to the coastal town.
Cairo says this eventuality would “liquidate” the Palestinian cause, create a new hurdle for future negotiations to settle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and breach Egypt's national security.
The UN and others have repeatedly warned that shifting Israeli ground operations to Rafah would cause a large number of civilian casualties given how crowded the town currently is.
The sources said Egypt, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, has dispatched aircraft on reconnaissance missions over the area and was stepping up its monitoring of Israeli military movements.
Relations between Egypt and Israel have been tense since the Gaza war began four months ago, with Cairo frequently accusing Israel of carrying out collective punishment in Gaza, not doing enough to avoid civilian casualties and bombing the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing, close to the Egyptian border, on at least four occasions.
It also says Israel is impeding the arrival of sufficient humanitarian aid to Gaza, where nearly 28,000 Palestinians have been killed to date and the vast majority of its 2.3 million residents displaced.
On Tuesday night Hamas sent Egyptian and Qatari mediators counter-proposals to a plan hammered out last week in Paris by mediators from the US, Qatar and Egypt.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu firmly rejected the proposals, saying they were “delusional”. He vowed to continue fighting until Hamas has been eradicated and hostages held by the militant group are freed.
On Thursday, Hamas said Khalil Al Hayah, its deputy leader in Gaza, arrived in Egypt for talks on the prospects of a ceasefire.
The sources said he would be meeting officials from the Egyptian intelligence agency as well as Qatari mediators to discuss the way forward.
As with previous rounds, the talks are held behind closed doors.
Mr Blinken has said he saw some hope in Hamas's counter-proposals, but acknowledged that they included some “non-starters.”
The counter-proposals include Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, a permanent ceasefire and a reconstruction plan with a three-year timeline. They also envisage a prisoner and hostage swap between Israel and Hamas.
Relations between Israel and its main international ally, the US, have been tense for months, but Mr Netanyahu's public dismissal of a plan the US says has some merit, has highlighted the divide.
Yet Mr Blinken and other US officials said they remain optimistic that progress could be made on their main goals of improving humanitarian conditions for Palestinians civilians, securing the release of hostages held by Hamas, preparing for a post-conflict Gaza and preventing the war from spreading.
“We see space to continue to pursue an agreement,” Mr Blinken said late on Wednesday. “And these things are always negotiations. It’s not flipping a light switch. It’s not ‘yes’ or ‘no.' There’s invariably back and forth.”
Compounding Mr Blinken’s dilemma, Mr Netanyahu appeared to dismiss concerns from the US and others about Israel expanding its military operations in southern Gaza, particularly in Rafah.
“On all of my previous visits here and pretty much every day in between, we have pressed Israel in concrete ways to strengthen civilian protection, to get more assistance to those who need it. And over the past four months, Israel has taken important steps to do just that,” Mr Blinken said.
“And yet … the daily toll that its military operations continue to take on innocent civilians remains too high.”
The Gaza war was triggered by an attack on southern Israel by Hamas on October 7, when its fighters killed about 1,200 people and took 240 hostages back to Gaza. A truce in late November saw the release of more than 100 hostages in exchange for about 200 Palestinians who had been jailed in Israel.
Mr Blinken appealed to Mr Netanyahu and other Israelis still reeling from the Hamas attack not to allow vengeance to dictate their continued response.
“Israelis were dehumanised in the most horrific way on October 7,” he said. “And the hostages have been dehumanised every day since. But that cannot be a license to dehumanise others.”
Mr Blinken, whose latest tour of the region was his fifth since the war began, came to Israel just hours after the receipt of the Hamas counter-proposals to the framework truce agreement put forward last week, which envisaged a three-phase plan to de-escalate the conflict.
He also visited Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar during his tour, talking up Riyadh's interest in normalising relations with Israel, provided the Gaza war ends and the Palestinians are given a clear, credible and time-bound pathway to an independent state.
“We remain determined as well to pursue a diplomatic path to a just and lasting peace, and security for all in the region, and notably for Israel,” he said in Tel Aviv.
However, Mr Netanyahu is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state and has said Israel will maintain open-ended security control over Gaza.
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Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
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Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
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Financial considerations before buying a property
Buyers should try to pay as much in cash as possible for a property, limiting the mortgage value to as little as they can afford. This means they not only pay less in interest but their monthly costs are also reduced. Ideally, the monthly mortgage payment should not exceed 20 per cent of the purchaser’s total household income, says Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching.
“If it’s a rental property, plan for the property to have periods when it does not have a tenant. Ensure you have enough cash set aside to pay the mortgage and other costs during these periods, ideally at least six months,” she says.
Also, shop around for the best mortgage interest rate. Understand the terms and conditions, especially what happens after any introductory periods, Ms Glynn adds.
Using a good mortgage broker is worth the investment to obtain the best rate available for a buyer’s needs and circumstances. A good mortgage broker will help the buyer understand the terms and conditions of the mortgage and make the purchasing process efficient and easier.
The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
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EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
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All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
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December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
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August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
