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In the intensive care unit of Nasser Hospital in Gaza's southern city of Khan Younis, a severely injured girl has been on a ventilator for weeks without any visitors or family around her.
Despite the thousands of Gazans searching for loved ones affected by Israel's two-month brutal bombing of the Strip, no one has come for her.
The child, who lost both her parents, is now labelled as a WCNSF, or “wounded child, no surviving family”, by medics who say the number of such cases is higher than in any of the numerous wars Gaza has witnessed.
The girl, whose name unknown, is in no condition to communicate with others.
A doctor, who preferred to remain anonymous, told The National that the child had been brought in about a month ago, along with dozens of casualties after an air strike targeted a residential building in the centre of Khan Younis.
Health workers said her identity was unknown, primarily because her injuries were so severe that she was unrecognisable. It was also possible that her entire family had perished.
More than 17,000 people, including thousands of children, have been killed since Israel started bombing Gaza following the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel that left 1,200 people dead. Entire families in the besieged enclave have been wiped out.
No figures on orphans
Ricardo Peris, Unicef's communications manager, told The National that his organisation “is working to gather and provide an accurate number of unaccompanied and separated children and orphans inside the Gaza Strip”.
But “this is very difficult, given the intensity of hostilities and rapidly evolving situation on the ground”.
He said Unicef has been trying to reach hospitals and medics in Gaza to identify and register children and to promote the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) hotline to help reunite children as part of its family links programme.
However, Mr Peris cautioned, “designating safe spaces for these children is presently nearly impossible due to the chaotic and overcrowded conditions in shelters and hospitals. The standard system to identify, document, trace, and reunify children is barely operational” and this is further complicated by communication obstacles and limited access.
According to multiple medics at Nasser Hospital, the precise number of WCNSFs remains unclear as they struggle to document the casualties.
Young and traumatised
In another room inside the hospital, 11-year-old Fatima Zahraa Mohammed El Hasani only has her grandmother beside her, after her entire family of 17 were killed when their home was bombed.
“Fatima is utterly traumatised,” said her grandmother, Etaf El Abadla, struggling to hold back tears, while speaking to The National.
In October, Fatima lost her parents, two siblings, paternal grandparents, uncles, and their children after their home in central Gaza was bombed. Following the tragic event, she was displaced to her maternal grandmother's care in Khan Younis.
Only a few days later, like thousands of others, Mrs El Abadla was forced to relocate with Fatima to the Al Mawasi region due to the intense bombing of their neighbourhood. The 56-year-old and her granddaughter now live in a small tent.
Fatima, who suffered burn injuries in the blasts, cries constantly, her grandmother says.
“She only sleeps in my arms and often wakes up in the middle of the night to ask about her family,” says Mrs El Abadla.
Care of distant relatives
There are concerns over how children without any surviving family members will be cared for in a society where it's culturally unacceptable for an orphan to be raised by a public or private institution.
Orphans in Gaza are typically welcomed into the care of distant relatives, said a local NGO manager, who chose to remain anonymous due to fears of Israeli reprisals.
These relatives often receive support through a kafala system, which involves donations from abroad to help raise and support the orphans.
“Under normal circumstances, monthly donations of $30 or $50 are given to family members who take on the responsibility of raising orphaned children in their extended families,” said the employee.
“We do not have institutions housing orphans. The government does not provide such facilities. It is not culturally accepted.”
He said the continuing war meant thousands of children will need sponsorship and Unicef is collaborating with partners in Gaza to address the issue.
“We are working to identify, register and formalise legal guardianship procedures for all unaccompanied, separated, or orphaned children being taken care of by extended family members,” said Mr Peris.
Last month, Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, highlighted the plight of WCNSFs as she addressed the Security Council.
“By now, we've all heard the heartbreaking acronym coined by healthcare workers in Gaza: WCNSF, which stands for a wounded child, no surviving family. I just want to let that sink in.”
This article is published in collaboration with Egab.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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'Munich: The Edge of War'
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Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
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- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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TICKETS
For tickets for the two-day Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) event, entitled Dubai Invasion 2019, on September 27 and 28 go to www.meraticket.com.
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If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The currency conundrum
Russ Mould, investment director at online trading platform AJ Bell, says almost every major currency has challenges right now. “The US has a huge budget deficit, the euro faces political friction and poor growth, sterling is bogged down by Brexit, China’s renminbi is hit by debt fears while slowing Chinese growth is hurting commodity exporters like Australia and Canada.”
Most countries now actively want a weak currency to make their exports more competitive. “China seems happy to let the renminbi drift lower, the Swiss are still running quantitative easing at full tilt and central bankers everywhere are actively talking down their currencies or offering only limited support," says Mr Mould.
This is a race to the bottom, and everybody wants to be a winner.
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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How to get exposure to gold
Although you can buy gold easily on the Dubai markets, the problem with buying physical bars, coins or jewellery is that you then have storage, security and insurance issues.
A far easier option is to invest in a low-cost exchange traded fund (ETF) that invests in the precious metal instead, for example, ETFS Physical Gold (PHAU) and iShares Physical Gold (SGLN) both track physical gold. The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF invests directly in mining companies.
Alternatively, BlackRock Gold & General seeks to achieve long-term capital growth primarily through an actively managed portfolio of gold mining, commodity and precious-metal related shares. Its largest portfolio holdings include gold miners Newcrest Mining, Barrick Gold Corp, Agnico Eagle Mines and the NewMont Goldcorp.
Brave investors could take on the added risk of buying individual gold mining stocks, many of which have performed wonderfully well lately.
London-listed Centamin is up more than 70 per cent in just three months, although in a sign of its volatility, it is down 5 per cent on two years ago. Trans-Siberian Gold, listed on London's alternative investment market (AIM) for small stocks, has seen its share price almost quadruple from 34p to 124p over the same period, but do not assume this kind of runaway growth can continue for long
However, buying individual equities like these is highly risky, as their share prices can crash just as quickly, which isn't what what you want from a supposedly safe haven.
How to improve Arabic reading in early years
One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient
The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers
Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades
Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic
First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations
Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades
Improve the appearance of textbooks
Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings
Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught
Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
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THE DETAILS
Solo: A Star Wars Story
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Rest
(Because Music)
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PAKISTAN SQUAD
Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali (test captain), Babar Azam (T20 captain), Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Kashif Bhatti, Shadab Khan and Yasir Shah.
