Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
More than 9,600 children and 6,700 women have been killed in the Israel-Gaza war, now in its fourth month, with 45,000 rockets and bombs used in attacks on the enclave since October 7.
The overall death toll in Gaza has passed 22,300 and more than 57,000 injuries have been recorded. The Hamas government's media office said 1.9 million people have been displaced and 65,000 tonnes of explosives used by Israel, damaging 290,000 homes.
“The sound of clashes and shelling makes you think that it is the end,” Rami Darwish, from Al Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, told The National.
“Israeli army has stepped up air strikes and artillery shelling in the middle areas of the Gaza Strip."
Israeli bombing in the southern city of Khan Younis killed 14 members of one family who had already been displaced. At least nine members of the Abu Hattab family were killed, mostly, medical sources said.
"We fled here because we were looking for a safe place, but there is no safe place,” Aziz Abu Hattab told The National.
“We were sleeping when suddenly shelling targeted us and we started running. We don’t know where to go.”
Dozens of Palestinians were killed and injured early on Thursday in Israeli raids on central and southern Gaza, Palestinian health authorities said.
Israel has bombed Al Maghazi, Al Zawaida and Al Nuseirat camps in central Gaza, as well as Khan Younis.
Paramedic Abed Allah Afanna told The National an Israeli aircraft bombed a multistorey house in central Gaza.
"We couldn't transport the injured due to the severity of the field conditions, as the ambulances were targeted and have been shot, which forced ambulance crew to leave the place without transporting the injured,” Mr Afanna said.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces carried out a second day of raids on Thursday, storming Palestinian homes in the city of Tulkarm and its two camps.
“The occupation bulldozers also continue to destroy the streets and alleys of the Tulkaram camp in several neighbourhoods and were stationed in Al Muqata’a neighbourhood, the centre of the camp, the Abu Al Foul neighbourhood, the Hanoun Square and the Balawneh neighbourhood,” the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported on Thursday.
Israeli forces reportedly eventually withdrew about 40 hours after the operation began.
Violence broke out between Palestinian fighters and Israeli troops on Wednesday when two camps in Tulkarm were raided as part of large-scale operations in the West Bank. The Israeli army said it discovered a tunnel near the city of Hebron.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will start a tour in the Middle East on Thursday, which includes a stop in Israel, a senior American official told Reuters on Wednesday.
The official said US envoy Amos Hochstein would also travel to Israel as tensions flare between the country and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Armies of Sand
By Kenneth Pollack (Oxford University Press)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
|
1.
|
United States
|
|
2.
|
China
|
|
3.
|
UAE
|
|
4.
|
Japan
|
|
5
|
Norway
|
|
6.
|
Canada
|
|
7.
|
Singapore
|
|
8.
|
Australia
|
|
9.
|
Saudi Arabia
|
|
10.
|
South Korea
|
Read more from Kareem Shaheen
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The biog
Fatima Al Darmaki is an Emirati widow with three children
She has received 46 certificates of appreciation and excellence throughout her career
She won the 'ideal mother' category at the Minister of Interior Awards for Excellence
Her favourite food is Harees, a slow-cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled wheat berries mixed with chicken
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
