One month into a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, the cherished calm of a long-awaited truce is interrupted by the relentless buzz of Israeli drones over Beirut.
Hovering over the capital, incessant and audible, the hum of the drones is a haunting reminder for many that the war is not quite over yet.
It's a very uneasy feeling that we're always being watched by an enemy, the constant reminder is nerve-wracking
Dalia Salah,
Beirut resident
A US-brokered ceasefire agreement designed to permanently end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect on November 27. But since then, the sounds of Beirut have been regularly drowned out by loud and visible Israeli drones manoeuvring at low-altitude.
Dalia Salah, a 28-year-old consultant who fled to Cyprus at the height of Israel’s war on Lebanon in late September, booked her flight back home as soon as she heard rumours of a potential ceasefire. “I couldn’t even wait to see if it was true or not. I just wanted to go back,” she told The National.
For the first few days, she and many others relished the sight of Beirut’s clear blue skies, void of Israeli drones or warplanes. “I could hear the birds chirping again,” Ms Salah said. “It’s a sound I will never take for granted.”
But her joy was short-lived, as only a few days into the ceasefire, the birds were once again silenced by the buzz of Israeli drones. “It’s a very uneasy feeling, that we’re always being watched by an enemy, but we’re expected to just deal with it,” said Ms Salah. “The constant reminder of it is nerve-racking.”
Sara Haidar, a 52-year-old mother-of-three, described the sound of the drones as a “mob of angry bees that won’t leave you alone”. She said the noise has at times kept her up at night, chipping away at her sleep and sanity.
Ms Haidar is a resident of Beirut’s southern suburbs and had to leave her home abruptly amid Israel’s relentless air strikes and bombs during the war. She stayed with her sister in the busy neighbourhood of Basta in central Beirut, but even the heart of the capital was not spared from Israel’s attacks.
“It’s unbearable stress,” she told The National. “We were barely starting to take a breath again after the war, but the drone was quickly back to suffocate us again.”
Ms Haidar said she has become a lot more on edge over the past few months. Any loud noise, like thunder or the slam of a door, was enough to make her jump out of her seat.
Despite the ceasefire holding thus far, the Lebanese mother said the agreement has failed to bring her any sense of security or peace of mind. “What kind of ceasefire is this that allows Israel to do whatever it wants?” she told The National. “How can we trust that such an agreement will bring us lasting peace?”
Ceasefire violations
The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire helped bring an end to more than a year of cross-border hostilities that escalated into a full-scale devastating war in Lebanon in September. The terms of the truce are based on UN Security Resolution 1701, which brought the last war between Hezbollah and Israel to an end in 2006.
The agreement involves a 60-day window for Israeli troops to withdraw from the south, Hezbollah to move north of the Litani river and the Lebanese army to take over. A US-led committee, including UN peacekeepers and representatives of Israel, Lebanon and France has been tasked with monitoring and ensuring the ceasefire conditions are met.
Over the past month, Lebanon has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire hundreds of times. Earlier this week, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati urged the committee responsible for overseeing the ceasefire to exert pressure on Israel over its repeat violations of the truce agreement.
“We demand an end to Israeli violations and their withdrawal from Lebanese towns,” said Mr Mikati in a statement. “Lebanon is committed to the terms of the agreement, while Israel continues its violations, and this is unacceptable.”
Documented breaches of the truce include Israel’s systematic destruction of homes and infrastructure in southern Lebanon, infiltrating Lebanese towns, enforcing curfews on Lebanese territory, killing civilians and infringing on Lebanon’s sovereignty by violating its airspace. At least nine people were killed in a wave of Israeli air strikes on southern Lebanon on December 3, raising fears of an all-out war resuming less than a week after a ceasefire came into effect.
From their drones in our skies to their tanks on our land, it’s like they’re taunting us and saying it’s not over yet
Sara Haidar,
Beirut resident
On December 25, Lebanon's state media said an Israeli air strike targeted the Baalbek region in the east of the country for the first time since the truce came into effect, branding it a "violation" of the fragile ceasefire. On December 26, Israeli forces briefly detained a Lebanese citizen in the Marjayoun district in the south while he was on his way to work, before releasing him.
Security and political sources in Beirut told The National that Lebanese officials fear the potential collapse of the ceasefire agreement due to continuous Israeli violations, and that the country is once again preparing for the worst-case scenario.
“It feels like a ticking time bomb, like we never know when things will escalate again,” said Ms Haidar on the fragility of the truce. “From their drones in our skies to their tanks on our land, it’s like they’re taunting us and saying it’s not over yet.”
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Racecard
6pm: Mina Hamriya – Handicap (TB) $75,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
6.35pm: Al Wasl Stakes – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (Turf) 1,200m
7.10pm: UAE Oaks – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,900m
7.45pm: Blue Point Sprint – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,000m
8.20pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy – Group 3 (TB) $200,000 (T) 2,810m
8.55pm: Mina Rashid – Handicap (TB) $80,000 (T) 1,600m
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THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Top New Zealand cop on policing the virtual world
New Zealand police began closer scrutiny of social media and online communities after the attacks on two mosques in March, the country's top officer said.
The killing of 51 people in Christchurch and wounding of more than 40 others shocked the world. Brenton Tarrant, a suspected white supremacist, was accused of the killings. His trial is ongoing and he denies the charges.
Mike Bush, commissioner of New Zealand Police, said officers looked closely at how they monitored social media in the wake of the tragedy to see if lessons could be learned.
“We decided that it was fit for purpose but we need to deepen it in terms of community relationships, extending them not only with the traditional community but the virtual one as well," he told The National.
"We want to get ahead of attacks like we suffered in New Zealand so we have to challenge ourselves to be better."
Five films to watch
Castle in the Sky (1986)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Only Yesterday (1991)
Pom Poki (1994)
The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013)
SPECS
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Barbie
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Normal People
Sally Rooney, Faber & Faber
The specs
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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.
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.
Match info
Arsenal 0
Manchester City 2
Sterling (14'), Bernardo Silva (64')
Essentials
The flights
Etihad (etihad.ae) and flydubai (flydubai.com) fly direct to Baku three times a week from Dh1,250 return, including taxes.
The stay
A seven-night “Fundamental Detox” programme at the Chenot Palace (chenotpalace.com/en) costs from €3,000 (Dh13,197) per person, including taxes, accommodation, 3 medical consultations, 2 nutritional consultations, a detox diet, a body composition analysis, a bio-energetic check-up, four Chenot bio-energetic treatments, six Chenot energetic massages, six hydro-aromatherapy treatments, six phyto-mud treatments, six hydro-jet treatments and access to the gym, indoor pool, sauna and steam room. Additional tests and treatments cost extra.
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
