Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Hamas's unconditional release of US-Israeli citizen Edan Alexander this month had raised hopes that a Gaza ceasefire deal was within reach. Nearly two weeks later, that optimism has all but evaporated.
In place of hope is the derailment of the latest round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations, as Israel presses on with a major military offensive that is killing scores of Palestinians daily, while the prospect of death from hunger hangs over many of the territory's 2.3 million residents.
Hamas released Mr Alexander, who was serving in the Israeli military when he was captured, as a goodwill gesture to US President Donald Trump as he embarked on a regional tour that took him to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE last week. The idea was that this would prompt the Trump administration to pressure Israel into agreeing to a ceasefire deal.
It never happened.
A Hamas official based in Beirut said on Thursday the latest round of ceasefire talks in Qatar had collapsed and blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for sabotaging them.
“As always, every time the atmosphere becomes positive and we get close to a deal, Netanyahu appears to sabotage the talks and block the path to an agreement for his own personal interests,” he said.
Israeli media, meanwhile, reported that Mr Netanyahu's government had recalled its negotiators from the talks in Qatar's capital, Doha.
Sources told The National that Israel's three-man delegation appeared to have had no mandate to negotiate and spent more time in their hotel rooms than at the negotiating table or with the mediators from the US, Egypt and Qatar.
"The whole process appeared to gradually lose steam soon after Edan Alexander was freed," said one of the sources. "The Hamas negotiators felt cheated and betrayed, and the Egyptian and Qatari mediators were deeply frustrated by the lack of progress after the initial burst of optimism.
"It is almost like they [the Israelis] went to Doha to stymie the process," the source added.
In the run-up to Mr Alexander's release on May 12, US mediators held direct talks with Hamas officials in Doha and everyone involved, including the mediators, became more hopeful than they had been in months that a deal could be clinched.
But the sources said Hamas, dejected by the lack of a US reward for Mr Alexander's release, had rejected the latest truce proposal.
The proposal echoed ideas first suggested by US envoy Steve Witkoff and embraced by Israel, they said. It provided for a six-week truce, the resumption of aid deliveries to Gaza and the release of 10 hostages along with the remains of half of those who died in captivity.
The plan offered no guarantees for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza or a permanent ceasefire, which are core to Hamas's demand for a comprehensive deal under which it will release all 58 hostages – of whom only 20 are believed to be alive – in return for a truce of five to 10 years and the freedom of hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Hamas has in recent months also signalled its willingness to forgo any role in the postwar government and reconstruction of Gaza, and to transform itself into a political party. It has also suggested it is prepared to lay down, but not surrender, its arms and for some of its leaders to leave Gaza to live in exile.
As the Doha talks collapsed, Israel kept up its relentless bombardment of Gaza, where the entire population is deemed to be at risk of famine. It also declared its intention to bring the entire strip under the control of its military.
Israel is now under mounting pressure, including from traditional allies, to halt its expanded offensive and allow aid into the territory. Foreign ministers of the EU agreed on Tuesday to review the bloc's co-operation accord with Israel, which includes trade.
Egypt, whose relations with Israel have been fraught since the Gaza war broke out 19 months ago, said on Thursday it welcomed the "marked change" in the position of international parties that now reject Israel's "disgraceful violations" in Gaza.
"Egypt views these changes as a reflection of a correct course and deserved support from the international community for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people," said a Foreign Ministry statement.
Bound by a 1979 peace treaty with Israel, Egypt has been enraged by its neighbour's conduct in Gaza, where more than 53,700 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. It is now routinely issuing strongly worded condemnations of Israel's actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The level of Cairo's criticism increased dramatically after Israel's military seized the Palestinian side of the Gaza-Egypt border last May, including the Rafah crossing, the only exit and entry point of the enclave not controlled by Israel.
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Asia Cup Qualifier
Final
UAE v Hong Kong
TV:
Live on OSN Cricket HD. Coverage starts at 5.30am
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
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.
more from Janine di Giovanni
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press
The%20specs
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The 10 Questions
- Is there a God?
- How did it all begin?
- What is inside a black hole?
- Can we predict the future?
- Is time travel possible?
- Will we survive on Earth?
- Is there other intelligent life in the universe?
- Should we colonise space?
- Will artificial intelligence outsmart us?
- How do we shape the future?
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
Champions League last 16, first leg
Tottenham v RB Leipzig, Wednesday, midnight (UAE)
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
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The team
Photographer: Mateusz Stefanowski at Art Factory
Videographer: Jear Valasquez
Fashion director: Sarah Maisey
Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory
Model: Randa at Art Factory Videographer’s assistant: Zanong Magat
Photographer’s assistant: Sophia Shlykova
With thanks to Jubail Mangrove Park, Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi
Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
1st Test July 26-30 in Galle
2nd Test August 3-7 in Colombo
3rd Test August 12-16 in Pallekele
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
TCL INFO
Teams:
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
More on Quran memorisation:
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
Book%20Details
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key features of new policy
Pupils to learn coding and other vocational skills from Grade 6
Exams to test critical thinking and application of knowledge
A new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance, Assessment, Review and Analysis for Holistic Development) will form the standard for schools
Schools to implement online system to encouraging transparency and accountability
