Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Israeli forces on Monday appeared to remain stationed along the Gaza-Egypt border despite the deadline for full withdrawal having passed. It was set out in the ceasefire-hostage deal struck between Israel and Hamas in January.
As part of the agreement, Israeli forces were supposed to have completely withdrawn from the 14km strip of land called Salah Al Din, also known as the Philadelphi Corridor, on the 50th day of the agreement, which was reached on Monday. Israel’s military did not comment on the status of its forces in the area but sources told The National some troops were still present and an Israeli official told CNN late last month that the country would not be withdrawing as originally agreed.
The ongoing Israeli military presence in the corridor is yet another challenge to the stalling ceasefire deal after the expiry of the first phase of the agreement and the failure to start negotiations on the second. Israel wants to extend the first phase, under which Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Hamas wants the deal to proceed to the second phase, as per the original timetable, during which both sides would work towards achieving a permanent ceasefire alongside more hostage and prisoner exchanges.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long touted the corridor as a key strategic priority for Israel in its Gaza campaign, saying cross-border smuggling over it allows Hamas to restock on military equipment. Dismantling Hamas’s military capability is a key part of Mr Netanyahu’s promise for “total victory” over the group after the October 7 attacks in 2023.
The Israeli official quoted in CNN’s February report said: “We will not allow Hamas murderers to roam again with trucks and rifles on our borders, and we will not let them strengthen themselves again through smuggling.”
The same day, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military “maintains a defined buffer zone in Gaza” that includes the Salah Al Din corridor.
“I will tell you, as Defence Minister, that I visited there and saw penetrating tunnels – some blocked and some still penetrating from Gaza to the Egyptian side," he added. "What does this mean? Smuggling."
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
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.
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
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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.
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures and results:
Monday, UAE won by three wickets
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
RESULT
Arsenal 0 Chelsea 3
Chelsea: Willian (40'), Batshuayi (42', 49')
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
GAC GS8 Specs
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On racial profiling at airports