Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Israel pressed ahead with another offensive in southern Gaza on Sunday amid international outrage over its bombing of a school on Saturday that killed scores of displaced Gazans who were sheltering there.
The Israeli military ordered thousands of people living in neighbourhoods of Khan Younis to leave early on Sunday, including areas that are part of the humanitarian zone it designated as a safe area for people affected by previous evacuation orders.
Two Palestinians were killed and several wounded in a strike on Sunday afternoon, while five others were wounded in morning strikes, the Palestinian state news agency Wafa reported.
The evacuation orders issued by military spokesman Avichay Adraee said the areas being targeted had been used for launching rockets at Israel.
The latest offensive highlights the difficulty Israel has faced in keeping previously held areas free of enemy forces 10 months into its war against Hamas and allied Palestinian militant groups in Gaza.
Most of Gaza's population has been displaced at least once since Israel launched its military offensive in response to the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7. The army has issued repeated evacuation orders for different parts of the enclave since then, often giving only several minutes' warning before opening fire in recent months.
More than 75,000 Gazans have been displaced in south-west Gaza alone in recent days, Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said in a post on X on Sunday.
However, schools where many displaced civilians seek shelter have increasingly come under attack in recent weeks, with Israel accusing militants of using them as bases. In one of the deadliest attacks of the war, more than 100 people were killed and dozens more injured in an Israeli air strike on Al Tabaeen school in Gaza city on Saturday, Gaza authorities said.
Israel’s military said it hit a Hamas command centre in a mosque in its compound and disputed the death toll, saying it killed 19 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters “using three precise munitions, which, according to professional analysis, cannot cause the amount of damage that is being reported by the Hamas-run Government Information Office in Gaza”.
The strike drew widespread international condemnation, with Algeria calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday to discuss it.
The attack came days ahead of a proposed resumption of negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza, with pressure mounting on Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement.
Egypt accused Israel of deliberately hindering the ceasefire effort, saying “the continued commission of these large-scale crimes, and the deliberate killing of these huge numbers of unarmed civilians, whenever the efforts of mediators intensified to try to reach a formula for a ceasefire in the strip, is conclusive evidence of the absence of political will on the part of the Israeli side to end this fierce war”.
The UAE “denounced in the strongest terms” Israel's attack on the school and reaffirmed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to prevent further loss of life, Afra Al Hameli, director of strategic communications at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on X.
Jordan condemned what it said was Israel's “flagrant violation of the rules of international law and an insistence on the systematic targeting of civilians and centres for sheltering displaced persons”.
Saturday's attack, amid a diplomatic push to renew talks for a ceasefire, is an indication of the Israeli government's endeavours to “obstruct and thwart these efforts”, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said.
Qatar, which has been acting as mediator between Israel and Hamas along with Egypt and the US, said it was renewing its call for independent UN investigators to look into Israel's “repeated targeting of schools and displacement shelters”.
Turkey also accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of wanting “to sabotage ceasefire negotiations”.
EU foreign affairs minister Josep Borrell said he was “horrified” by the images emerging from the aftermath of the Israeli attack.
“At least 10 schools were targeted in the last weeks. There's no justification for these massacres”, he wrote on X.
US Vice President Kamala Harris condemned the deaths at the school, saying that “far too many” civilians have been killed in the war, although she added that Israel has a right to “go after Hamas”.
“We need a hostage deal, and we need a ceasefire. The deal needs to get done, and it needs to get done now,” she added.
The months-long peace effort is set to resume on August 15, most probably in the Qatari capital Doha, although there is little hope of a breakthrough, sources close to the negotiations told The National.
The renewed push for a ceasefire, which received widespread support in the region and from the US and European Union, came after the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week and the appointment of Yahya Sinwar, the group's leader in Gaza, as his successor.
Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for the assassination and vowed to retaliate, raising fears of a regional war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to continue the war until Hamas is eliminated, faces pressure to reach a deal to free the 115 hostages still held by Hamas after being seized on October 7. Protesters took to the streets on Saturday evening calling on the government to come to an agreement.
However, hardline politicians, many of whom have powerful positions in the government, criticised the calls, saying instead that Israel must pursue a full-throttled campaign in the strip.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Sunday that a deal would be a surrender to Hamas. He also called for cutting off humanitarian aid to the strip.
The anger on both sides highlighted once again how the plight of the hostages has polarised sections of Israeli society, even as the country braces for an attack from its regional enemies and stands on the brink of a regional war.
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Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites
The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.
It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
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What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
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.
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Company%20Profile
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GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh234,000 - Dh329,000
On sale: now
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The Travel Diaries of Albert Einstein The Far East, Palestine, and Spain, 1922 – 1923
Editor Ze’ev Rosenkranz
Princeton
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The Gentlemen
Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Three out of five stars
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MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Greenwood 77')
Everton 1 (Lindelof 36' og)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
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Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
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
