Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
When John Whyte looks out of his window every morning in Rafah, Gaza, he sees two things that drive home his new reality.
And right outside his door, he sees the sea of tents and other temporary shelters that have sprung up in recent weeks, as hundreds of thousands of displaced people descended on the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, in search of protection from Israel’s bombs and artillery.
More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have fled to Rafah, one of the few areas Israeli forces have yet to launch sustained bombardment campaigns. UNRWA facilities are now a temporary home for about 1.4 million Gazans.
“If you look outside my office, people are trying to find space wherever they can. They’ve come here specifically because this is a deconflicted area and they hope they are safe,” says Mr Whyte, a field programme support officer at UNRWA, whose previous posts include Damascus and Tripoli in Lebanon.
“But the reality is that nowhere in Gaza is safe.”
As one of only about 20 foreign UNRWA staff working in the embattled Gaza Strip, Mr Whyte’s work is centred on trying to secure petrol and diesel for vehicles, delivering humanitarian assistance and coordinating a host of other projects aimed at keeping people alive as the war enters its fifth month.
He was a part of two UNRWA convoys that attempted to deliver aid to Gaza city in December. One of those, he says, was a close call.
Mr Whyte was on board one of six lorries carrying food to Rimal in west Gaza city, where 15,000 to 20,000 internally displaced people in desperate need of food were stranded.
“We got through an Israeli checkpoint and suddenly there were thousands of people running towards us trying to get something from us,” says Mr Whyte.
“A sniper shot one of our labourers, who was almost killed. We were trying to deal with the casualty, deal with the thousands of desperate people trying to get at the food in the trucks – we didn’t make it to Rimal.
“It was a very challenging experience. People are so desperate.”
In addition to food and medicine, the biggest need right now, he says, are tents and shelter items.
“They need clothes, blankets, mattresses – all the basics to get them through winter. People I met today were pointing at their feet – a lot of them are barefoot,” he says.
“But most of all, they need a ceasefire and an end to this war.”
In recent weeks, people have been presenting with hepatitis A, diarrhoea and other communicable diseases that the lack of space and medicine makes difficult to treat.
“Every which way we turn, there are obstacles,” he says.
Although UNRWA informs Israel every day of the locations of its shelters – places that are protected under international humanitarian law – by early January, 146 UNRWA workers had been killed, the biggest death toll suffered by any UN agency in a conflict.
UNRWA reports there have been more than 270 attacks on its facilities in Gaza, with 372 people killed.
Despite its critical work, UNRWA received a major financial blow last month after Israel presented allegations that 12 of the agency's 13,000 workers had been involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks.
More than a dozen countries, including top donor US, announced they would suspend some $440 million in aid to the agency following the allegations.
Though those claims have yet to be independently verified and an investigation is under way, the UN has condemned the “abhorrent alleged acts” and fired nine of its workers, including a social worker and several teachers.
In the US, Republican politicians have claimed UNRWA is a “terrorist-supporting entity” and the “identical twin of Hamas”. The US is UNRWA’s biggest donor, providing $338 million in funding in 2021.
But on the ground in Gaza, the consequences of shuttering UNRWA could be horrific.
“You have 2.2 million people relying on UNRWA for life-saving humanitarian assistance,” says Mr Whyte. “Who would provide that?”
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said last week that only $300,000 of the $121 million in US funding to UNRWA had been put on hold.
In addition to fears over funding, recent days have seen Mr Whyte and the more than one million other people now in and around Rafah worried by the threat of an imminent Israeli ground assault.
“Everybody here is just praying for a ceasefire but we’re hearing the exact opposite,” he says.
All the while, about 500 fewer aid lorries – the equivalent of Gaza’s entire commercial sector – are being allowed into the enclave every day.
UNRWA has not been able to get any aid into northern Gaza for 10 days, with numerous missions denied by Israel.
“We simply cannot meet that need,” says Mr Whyte.
“We are gradually losing the battle to keep people alive.”
Whole families are being 'wiped out of the records', says Gazan gravedigger – video
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Copa del Rey final
Sevilla v Barcelona, Saturday, 11.30pm (UAE), match on Bein Sports
THE%20SPECS
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Company%20profile
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Moral education needed in a 'rapidly changing world'
Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.
Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.
"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.
"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.
"The moral education programme has been designed to develop children holistically in a world being rapidly transformed by technology and globalisation."
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
What should do investors do now?
What does the S&P 500's new all-time high mean for the average investor?
Should I be euphoric?
No. It's fine to be pleased about hearty returns on your investments. But it's not a good idea to tie your emotions closely to the ups and downs of the stock market. You'll get tired fast. This market moment comes on the heels of last year's nosedive. And it's not the first or last time the stock market will make a dramatic move.
So what happened?
It's more about what happened last year. Many of the concerns that triggered that plunge towards the end of last have largely been quelled. The US and China are slowly moving toward a trade agreement. The Federal Reserve has indicated it likely will not raise rates at all in 2019 after seven recent increases. And those changes, along with some strong earnings reports and broader healthy economic indicators, have fueled some optimism in stock markets.
"The panic in the fourth quarter was based mostly on fears," says Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. "The fundamentals have mostly held up, while the fears have gone away and the fears were based mostly on emotion."
Should I buy? Should I sell?
Maybe. It depends on what your long-term investment plan is. The best advice is usually the same no matter the day — determine your financial goals, make a plan to reach them and stick to it.
"I would encourage (investors) not to overreact to highs, just as I would encourage them not to overreact to the lows of December," Mr Schutte says.
All the same, there are some situations in which you should consider taking action. If you think you can't live through another low like last year, the time to get out is now. If the balance of assets in your portfolio is out of whack thanks to the rise of the stock market, make adjustments. And if you need your money in the next five to 10 years, it shouldn't be in stocks anyhow. But for most people, it's also a good time to just leave things be.
Resist the urge to abandon the diversification of your portfolio, Mr Schutte cautions. It may be tempting to shed other investments that aren't performing as well, such as some international stocks, but diversification is designed to help steady your performance over time.
Will the rally last?
No one knows for sure. But David Bailin, chief investment officer at Citi Private Bank, expects the US market could move up 5 per cent to 7 per cent more over the next nine to 12 months, provided the Fed doesn't raise rates and earnings growth exceeds current expectations. We are in a late cycle market, a period when US equities have historically done very well, but volatility also rises, he says.
"This phase can last six months to several years, but it's important clients remain invested and not try to prematurely position for a contraction of the market," Mr Bailin says. "Doing so would risk missing out on important portfolio returns."
The five pillars of Islam
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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
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
