Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
Security analysts are warning foreign businesses in the Middle East to prepare evacuation plans amid fears unrest could spread across the region following the October 7 attack in Israel.
More than 1,400 people were killed in the attack by Hamas and retaliatory strikes by Israel on Gaza have killed more than 7,000. The Israeli military is currently preparing a ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave.
As regional tension climbs, US and coalition troops have been attacked at least 19 times in Iraq and Syria by Iran-backed forces since October 17, which led the Pentagon on Friday to launch precision strikes against two sites in eastern Syria used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and groups it supports.
Security risk and crisis management consultancy Crisis24 is working with businesses to plan their exit strategies to help protect their employees.
Mark Niblett, senior vice president of global operations at Crisis24, said escalation from other Iran-backed groups across the Middle East is definitely a possibility.
“I spend a lot of time in the region and my opinion is the Houthis in Yemen, financed by Iran, with reported financing from countries like North Korea, are always fostering a rhetoric of an overarching US Israeli conspiracy theory,” he told The National.
“They were very active from 2015 to last year, will we see an uptick in incidents? I think it is definitely a possibility and given that the financing aspect, the Iran aspect financing Hamas and this current conflict I would most definitely be watching it very closely.
“I would definitely be watching it very, very closely.
“Now is not the time for complacency.”
Tess Baker, vice president of crisis and security consulting at Crisis24, said the firm has teams on the ground helping businesses plan evacuations, from ensuring staff have access to water and safe houses to getting transport to border crossings.
“We are working with a number of organisations throughout the Middle East and they are obviously very concerned about both the immediate situation and the potential for escalation and what that will look like and the impact on their people,” she said.
“We have teams working full time out of Dubai, Tel Aviv, Oman and Cairo doing key things, firstly analysing in-country analysis with their ears to the ground and helping organisations plan for evacuations of foreign national staff and planning for supporting people who cannot or will not evacuate and shelter people.
“We are looking at potential escalations and where it could go and mapping out scenarios.”
Defence analyst Sam Cranny-Evans suggested Israel could delay its ground offensive until the US believes that American troops in the region are secure.
“The US bases in Syria and Iraq clearly felt quite exposed when everything began escalating. This, we can see, has led to the introduction of additional air defence troops, the US carrier groups off the coast of Israel and that kind of thing,” he said.
“The timing of the invasion will likely depend on a number of things, but primarily the readiness of the Israeli troops – they have to be well equipped, they have to be well supplied before they’re going to conduct any urban warfare – and secondly the US’s confidence around its ability to secure its own personnel in the region and also prevent wider horizontal escalation.”
But Tobias Borck, an expert on Middle East security at the Royal United Services Institute, said Iran and groups it supports appeared so far not to be seeking an escalation of the conflict.
“Almost all governments across the region are in a consensus that they would like to contain this conflict. At this stage, I even think that it seems like Iran is in that consensus, too,” he said.
But he said it would be wrong to think of groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis as “sitting by the phone waiting for Tehran to ring to tell them what to do”.
“We could see an escalation, for example, from Hezbollah without Tehran wanting Hezbollah to escalate. That is possible,” he said.
“If Hezbollah comes to the conclusion that it has to act in order to retain its legitimacy within its specific context then it will, regardless of what Tehran says.”
Earlier this month the US State Department ordered non-emergency staff and family members to leave the American embassy in Baghdad and consulate in Erbil “due to increased security threats against US personnel and interests”.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
The specs: 2018 Ford F-150
Price, base / as tested: Dh173,250 / Dh178,500
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Power: 395hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 555Nm @ 2,750rpm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 12.4L / 100km
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
The Pope's itinerary
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Sam Smith
Where: du Arena, Abu Dhabi
When: Saturday November 24
Rating: 4/5
WHAT%20IS%20THE%20LICENSING%20PROCESS%20FOR%20VARA%3F
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
Results
Stage 7:
1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29
2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
%3Cp%3ECreator%3A%20Tima%20Shomali%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0Tara%20Abboud%2C%C2%A0Kira%20Yaghnam%2C%20Tara%20Atalla%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
