On Tuesday, around 2am local time in Iran, the Israeli military issued an order for residents of Tehran's District 18, one of the capital’s most densely populated and poorest neighbourhoods, to leave.
“In the coming hours, the Israeli army will operate in this area against military targets belonging to the Iranian regime,” army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X. “Your presence in this area exposes your lives to danger.”
Hundreds of thousands of people live in this sprawling area of Tehran. It was the middle of the night, and Iranian authorities have restricted internet access since Israel launched its attacks on Friday. The X platform is officially banned in Iran, and not accessible without a VPN.
Around 30 minutes later, the Israeli army said they were carrying out a series of strikes on Tehran.
Civilians have borne the brunt of the aerial war that began on Friday when Israel started bombing Iran. Israel described it as an operation to prevent its archenemy from acquiring nuclear weapons. Since then, the two countries have engaged in their most intense exchange of attacks.
In Iran, the Health Ministry said at least 224 people were killed and 1,277 admitted to hospital as a result of Israel's bombardment, and 90 per cent of the casualties were civilians. Iranian strikes on Israel have killed at least 24 civilians, according to Israeli authorities.
Human rights groups and Iranian activists have denounced Israeli bombing warnings as unlawful, ineffective and terror-inducing for the civilian population.
In a press release on Wednesday calling for the protection of civilians amid the rising hostilities, Amnesty International criticised the “alarming threats and overly broad, ineffective evacuation warnings” issued by Israel.
“Evacuation warnings, even if detailed and effective, do not release Israel from its other obligations under international humanitarian law,” the rights group said. "They must not treat as open-fire zones areas for which they have issued warnings."
US President Donald Trump, who is reportedly considering military intervention to support Israel, Washington’s long-time ally, added to the alarm on Monday when he said, “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“Making an entire city panic over a warning that is not even accurate – when people have nowhere to go and no logistical means to evacuate is a violation of international law,” said Bahar Ghandehari, from the Centre for Human Rights in Iran, a US-based organisation.
“Tehran has a population of nearly 10 million. Where would they even go?” she added.
The Israeli bombing threat has also raised concern for political prisoners. On Monday, Israel warned residents of Tehran's District 3 to leave. Evin Prison, which holds scores of political activists, including many arrested during the 2022-23 Women, Life, Freedom protests, stands on the edge of the district.
“It is dangerously close to whatever Israel is planning to do there,” Ms Ghandehari said.
The centre has been monitoring prison conditions closely, she said. “So far, we haven't heard anything alarming happening inside the prisons. But prisoners are very panicked and stressed.”
The prisoners' families also feel helpless.
“My dad is in prison, how is he supposed to evacuate?” said Mehraveh Khadan, daughter of Iranian rights activist Reza Khadan who is being held in Evin.
Unlike Israel, Tehran has no public bomb shelters or air raid warning system, and its air defences are limited.
“There are no alarms, no shelters, and all the information is coming from social media, which many people can’t even access due to internet restrictions,” said Ms Ghandehari.
Iranian authorities have said that metro stations, schools and mosques would be used as shelters, but it is not clear whether these structures above ground can offer meaningful protection.
Familiar tactics
The Israel military's warnings to civilians, with maps shaded in red to show the areas under threat, are the same as those used in its wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
In Lebanon and Gaza, human rights groups have already denounced these maps as inadequate and misleading, saying they do not provide safe or effective evacuation options for civilians.
Israel first used disproportionate force against civilians as a military strategy during the 2006 war in Lebanon. This became known as the Dahieh doctrine, named after the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital.
The doctrine legitimises the use of maximum force against civilians and civilian infrastructure, erasing the line between military and civilian targets in a violation of international humanitarian law, as means of collective punishment to pressure the local population to distance itself from the enemy force.
“They’re targeting entire residential areas, putting civilians at risk and making them collateral damage for a single military target,” Ms Ghandehari said.
Amnesty noted a recent warning issued by the Israeli army told people across Iran to “immediately leave areas … [housing] military weapons manufacturing facilities and their support institutions”, spreading panic within the population.
“The locations of military facilities are not known to the general public and no clear guidance was provided on where civilians should or should not go to ensure their safety,” the rights group said.
While the tactics may be similar to those used in Lebanon and Gaza, the scale is different in Iran – a much larger country with a population of more than 85 million.
The panic sparked by Israel's warnings and bombings in Tehran led to massive traffic jams across the city as people tried to leave.
“People were stuck in traffic for hours, and some even ended up turning back and going home,” Ms Ghandehari said. “Others couldn’t leave at all because of fuel shortages.”
The current momentum seems to favour escalation. Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday said his country would not surrender and warned that any US military intervention would have serious consequences.
“That's the most terrifying thing: the uncertainty,” Ms Ghandehari said.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Super Rugby play-offs
Quarter-finals
- Hurricanes 35, ACT 16
- Crusaders 17, Highlanders 0
- Lions 23, Sharks 21
- Chiefs 17, Stormers 11
Semi-finals
Saturday, July 29
- Crusaders v Chiefs, 12.35pm (UAE)
- Lions v Hurricanes, 4.30pm
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Non-oil%20trade
%3Cp%3ENon-oil%20trade%20between%20the%20UAE%20and%20Japan%20grew%20by%2034%20per%20cent%20over%20the%20past%20two%20years%2C%20according%20to%20data%20from%20the%20Federal%20Competitiveness%20and%20Statistics%20Centre.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIn%2010%20years%2C%20it%20has%20reached%20a%20total%20of%20Dh524.4%20billion.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ECars%20topped%20the%20list%20of%20the%20top%20five%20commodities%20re-exported%20to%20Japan%20in%202022%2C%20with%20a%20value%20of%20Dh1.3%20billion.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EJewellery%20and%20ornaments%20amounted%20to%20Dh150%20million%20while%20precious%20metal%20scraps%20amounted%20to%20Dh105%20million.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERaw%20aluminium%20was%20ranked%20first%20among%20the%20top%20five%20commodities%20exported%20to%20Japan.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ETop%20of%20the%20list%20of%20commodities%20imported%20from%20Japan%20in%202022%20was%20cars%2C%20with%20a%20value%20of%20Dh20.08%20billion.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The five pillars of Islam
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Fixtures
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The years Ramadan fell in May
If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: from Dh155,000
On sale: now
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
The%20Roundup
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Under 19 World Cup
Group A: India, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka
Group B: Australia, England, Nigeria, West Indies
Group C: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe
Group D: Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa, UAE
UAE fixtures
Saturday, January 18, v Canada
Wednesday, January 22, v Afghanistan
Saturday, January 25, v South Africa
Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 2
Rashford 28', Martial 72'
Watford 1
Doucoure 90'
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The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh135,000
Engine 1.6L turbo
Gearbox Six speed automatic with manual and sports mode
Power 165hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 240Nm @ 1,400rpm 0-100kph: 9.2 seconds
Top speed 420 kph (governed)
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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.
Read more about the coronavirus
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
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
Keep it fun and engaging
Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, says children cannot learn something overnight, so it helps to have a fun routine that keeps them engaged and interested.
“I explain to my daughter that the money I draw from an ATM or the money on my bank card doesn’t just magically appear – it’s money I have earned from my job. I show her how this works by giving her little chores around the house so she can earn pocket money,” says Mr Ritchie.
His daughter is allowed to spend half of her pocket money, while the other half goes into a bank account. When this money hits a certain milestone, Mr Ritchie rewards his daughter with a small lump sum.
He also recommends books that teach the importance of money management for children, such as The Squirrel Manifesto by Ric Edelman and Jean Edelman.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
More coverage from the Future Forum
Ipaf in numbers
Established: 2008
Prize money: $50,000 (Dh183,650) for winners and $10,000 for those on the shortlist.
Winning novels: 13
Shortlisted novels: 66
Longlisted novels: 111
Total number of novels submitted: 1,780
Novels translated internationally: 66
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
