The US and several Arab allies are in talks with Israel on organising aid flights to drop humanitarian assistance into Gaza to reduce the worsening hunger crisis gripping the enclave, sources told The National on Monday.
An Israeli official confirmed to The National that discussions were under way on airdropping supplies in Gaza. The official said Israel was talking to three countries on the issue, but he declined to identify them or give further details.
The sources said the talks began on Sunday in Cairo and Doha between representatives of Israel on one side and those of the US, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan on the other.
Egyptian and Israeli officials were discussing the proposal in Cairo, while Qatari officials were talking in Doha with Israeli delegates, they added. Remote discussions were being held with the other parties.
The sources did not say whether the talks were making progress but they coincided with continuing negotiations in the Qatari capital on proposals for a 60-day truce in the Gaza war as well as a hostages-for-prisoners swap and the flow of humanitarian aid into the enclave.
This would not mark the first time aid has been dropped since the war started in October, 2023, with the US, UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Britain and the Netherlands parachuting supplies. The airdrops were halted due to safety concerns.
The last airdrop was by the UAE in October last year, as part of Birds of Goodness operation.
In some cases, chasing and fighting over them by hungry Palestinians led to injuries and, in at least one case, caused one person to drown when they landed in the Mediterranean off Gaza's coast.
It was unclear whether the current consideration to return to humanitarian airdrops were looking into a different mechanism to avoid injuries and ensure a fair distribution of the dropped supplies. Despite the challenges of parachuting supplies and the safety concern, the fact that it is on the table as an option reflects the disastrous humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The UN's Palestinian aid agency UNRWA says Gaza residents are now suffering from malnutrition, with widespread food insecurity and starvation.
Ismail Al Thawabta, director of the government media office in Gaza, said the strip “has entered dangerous levels of deliberate famine, with no intervention from the international community”.
Dozens of children have died due to malnutrition since the start of the war, with a total of 620 people confirmed dead from starvation and lack of medicine, according to Gaza officials.
Underlining the despair among Gazans, the death of civilians seeking aid has become a regular occurrence in the tiny enclave, with the authorities blaming Israeli fire as crowds facing chronic shortages of food and other essentials flock in huge numbers to aid centres.
On Sunday, Israeli troops opened fire on crowds trying to collect humanitarian aid, killing 93 people and wounding dozens more in what was one of the bloodiest days for aid seekers in weeks.
The Palestinian Health Ministry on Monday said more than 1,000 aid seekers had been killed in May.
The Gaza war was caused by Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 that left about 1,200 people dead. The assailants also took about 250 others hostage of whom about 50 remain in captivity, including 20 who are believed to be still alive.
Israel's military response has killed nearly 59,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the ministry in Gaza.
Now in their third week, the Doha talks on a ceasefire have stalled after initially making progress. The issues which remain between Israel and Hamas include the extent of Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, distribution of aid and the prominent Palestinians Hamas wants to see freed from Israeli prisons along with hundreds of others in return for releasing the hostages it has.
Thomas Helm in Jerusalem contributed to this report
SPECS
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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.
RACECARD%20
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Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: TravelTech
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investors: Convivialite Ventures, BY Partners, Shorooq Partners, L& Ventures, Flat6Labs
Saturday's results
Brighton 1-1 Leicester City
Everton 1-0 Cardiff City
Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace
Watford 0-3 Liverpool
West Ham United 0-4 Manchester City
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
The five pillars of Islam
Sanchez's club career
2005-2006: Cobreloa
2006-2011 Udinese
2006-2007 Colo-Colo (on loan)
2007-2008 River Plate (on loan)
2011-2014 Barcelona
2014–Present Arsenal
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
CONCRETE COWBOY
Directed by: Ricky Staub
Starring: Idris Elba, Caleb McLaughlin, Jharrel Jerome
3.5/5 stars
MATCH INFO
Brescia 1 (Skrinia og, 76)
Inter Milan 2 (Martinez 33, Lukaku 63)
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
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The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
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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
The specs: 2018 Opel Mokka X
Price, as tested: Dh84,000
Engine: 1.4L, four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: Six-speed auto
Power: 142hp at 4,900rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 1,850rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
