Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Talks to break the stand-off between Hamas and Israel over the Gaza ceasefire got off to a positive start, with US mediators showing a "deeper understanding" of the Palestinian group after unprecedented meetings with its leaders, sources told The National on Wednesday.
The latest round of negotiations mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar began in Doha on Tuesday night with preliminary sideline meetings, but substantial discussions among all parties did not begin until Wednesday, they said, with the White House's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in attendance.
Mr Witkoff, a real estate magnate known to be close to US President Donald Trump, is credited with brokering the Gaza ceasefire deal that took hold on January 19 and ended on March 1. His success contrasted with more than a year of fruitless efforts by the US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators to pause the Gaza war.
"The negotiations in Doha are very positive and different from previous rounds," said one of the sources. "The Americans have gained a deeper understanding of Hamas, its situation and the cards it holds in contrast what they had previously learnt through third parties," they added, alluding to the knowledge gleaned by the US after a series of meetings in recent weeks with Hamas leaders in Qatar.
The sources said the dynamics of Gaza negotiations and contacts behind closed doors have in recent weeks expanded beyond merely maintaining a truce in the Palestinian territory and now touch on the future of post-war Gaza, including how it is governed, security and the fate of Hamas, as well as its arsenal. The shift, they said, has been boosted by direct negotiations between Hamas leaders and the US envoy for hostages Adam Boehler.
The sources this week revealed Mr Boehler had offered Hamas a conditional 10 to 15-year truce in Gaza as part of wide-ranging discussions between the two sides. They said Hamas welcomed the offer.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, however, sought to belittle the significance of Mr Boehler's meetings, saying they were a "one-off situation" that had not "borne fruit".
However, the sources on Wednesday said further meetings between Hamas and US officials were in the pipeline and that discussions which had already taken place were being taken up by negotiators and mediators in Qatar this week.
"The conversation now is so detailed that it touches on the names of the technocrats who will be selected to run post-war Gaza, as well as the future of Hamas's arsenal and who is the best candidate to succeed [Palestinian Authority] President Mahmoud Abbas," said another of the sources.
"They think a truce of up to 15 years can change things on the ground in a very big way, enough to create the nucleus of an independent Palestinian state," they said.
The talks in Doha coincided with an announcement by Egypt on Wednesday that an international conference on the reconstruction of Gaza – which Cairo is sponsoring with the UN and the PA – will take place at the end of next month. A precise date has yet to be announced.
Separately, technical talks about the first, six-month stage of Egypt's $53 billion plan to rebuild the coastal enclave will commence next week in Cairo.
The first phase of the plan, adopted at an Arab summit on March 4, provides for defusing unexploded ordnance left by the war, as well as removing the rubble of destroyed buildings and the supply of 200,000 tents and caravans to house Palestinians who lost their homes in the fighting. It also entails the restoration of an estimated 60,000 partially damaged homes.
The war in Gaza was triggered by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that killed about 1,200 people. The assailants also took about 250 others hostages, of whom 59 – with 24 now presumed alive and 35 confirmed dead, according to Israel's military – remain in captivity.
The attack drew a relentless bombing campaign by Israel that has killed more than 48,500, mostly women and children, the Health Ministry in Gaza says. The vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million residents has also been displaced, with large parts of the enclave's built-up areas, including hospitals, universities, schools and homes, laid to waste.
The implementation of the reconstruction plan, however, hinges on reaching a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, as well as securing the required funds from bilateral and multilateral donors such as Gulf Arab states and the EU.
The intensifying talks on the reconstruction of Gaza and Israel's halt of electricity supply and deliveries of humanitarian aid to the territory have added significance to the current Doha negotiations.
Hamas has offered an upbeat assessment of the negotiations, with Hazem Qassem, its spokesman in Gaza, saying the group is dealing with them positively and responsibly.
“We hope this round will yield tangible progress towards the start of the second phase, paving the way for an end to the aggression, the withdrawal of the occupation [Israel] from the Gaza Strip and the completion of a prisoner exchange deal,” he told The National.
Another Hamas spokesman, Abdul Latif Al Qanou, said on Wednesday the group was awaiting "new steps from the Doha negotiations to move towards implementing the second phase, resuming aid deliveries and ensuring an end to the war”.
The six-week, first phase of the truce deal ended on March 1 without agreement on subsequent stages meant to secure a lasting end to the war. The deadlock over the deal's second phase arose when Israel said it wanted to extend the first phase but Hamas remained committed to negotiations on an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
While the fate of the ceasefire remains uncertain, both sides have largely refrained from resuming all-out hostilities. However, in recent days, Israel has conducted daily strikes, supposedly targeting militants in Gaza.
On Tuesday, an Israeli air strike killed four men, including two brothers, south of Gaza city, according to the territory's civil defence agency. The Israeli military said its air force had struck “several terrorists engaged in suspicious activity posing a threat to IDF [Israeli] troops”.
With additional reporting from Nagham Mohanna and Amr Mostafa
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
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CREW
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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.
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Two-step truce
The UN-brokered ceasefire deal for Hodeidah will be implemented in two stages, with the first to be completed before the New Year begins, according to the Arab Coalition supporting the Yemeni government.
By midnight on December 31, the Houthi rebels will have to withdraw from the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Issa and Al Saqef, coalition officials told The National.
The second stage will be the complete withdrawal of all pro-government forces and rebels from Hodeidah city, to be completed by midnight on January 7.
The process is to be overseen by a Redeployment Co-ordination Committee (RCC) comprising UN monitors and representatives of the government and the rebels.
The agreement also calls the deployment of UN-supervised neutral forces in the city and the establishment of humanitarian corridors to ensure distribution of aid across the country.
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The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
Stage 2 results
1 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal 04:18:18
2 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:00:02
3 Arnaud Demare (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 00:00:04
4 Diego Ulissi (ITA) UAE Team Emirates
5 Rick Zabel (GER) Israel Start-Up Nation
General Classification
1 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal 07:47:19
2 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:00:12
3 Arnaud Demare (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 00:00:16
4 Nikolai Cherkasov (RUS) Gazprom-Rusvelo 00:00:17
5 Alexey Lutsensko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team 00:00:19
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
