Israel endured a day of setbacks in its Middle East wars on Thursday with four troops killed in Gaza, two Israeli military personnel stabbed to death near Jordan and a city hit by a Houthi drone.
As Israeli troops intensified their assault on Gaza city, killing at least two dozen more Palestinians, Hamas warned it would “not care about the lives” of Israeli hostages. “This criminal operation means that you will not get a single prisoner, neither dead nor alive,” said the group's armed wing.
The Israeli army said four troops were killed in what reports said was a roadside bomb attack in the south of Gaza. One cadet was injured.
Official Palestinian media meanwhile said 20 victims were brought to Gaza city's Al Shifa hospital after being killed in Israeli attacks. It reported four deaths in Al Bureij refugee camp when Israeli aircraft bombed a house.
Internet and phone lines were down across Gaza, in a sign that Israel's ground operations could escalate further. Israel this week began its main push to capture Gaza city after weeks of destructive bombing, saying on Thursday that troops were “expanding their operations” in the area.
As tensions flare, two Israelis were killed in an attack at an Israeli-run border crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan on Thursday, officials said. Israel said the attacker was a Jordanian aid lorry driver.
Israel's army called the Allenby Bridge incident a terrorist attack and said it had advised the government to block aid at the crossing in response. Jordan's Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, which it described as “harming the interests of the kingdom” and its ability to deliver aid.
Israel's police meanwhile reported a drone crash in the southern city of Eilat, after the army reported a “hostile aircraft infiltration”, apparently from Yemen. The country's Houthi rebels regularly fire missiles at Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian cause, but impacts are relatively rare.
Israel's advance in pursuit of Hamas operatives comes days before the UN General Assembly meets in New York, with France and Saudi Arabia leading a push to recognise Palestinian statehood – an idea the US and Israel reject.
The UN Security Council was on Thursday considering a new resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, drawn up after the UN declared a famine. The US habitually vetoes such motions but other members have been increasingly vocal in their frustration over the suffering in Gaza.
Israel's attacks on neighbouring countries have triggered concern around the region. Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called for “maximum” pressure on Israel to stop its attacks after it announced new strikes on the country's south.
“Lebanon calls on the international community, and particularly the countries that sponsored the ceasefire agreement, to exert maximum pressure on Israel to immediately halt its attacks,” Mr Salam said during a cabinet meeting.
Wafa reported more violence in Gaza on Thursday morning, saying Israeli troops destroyed residential buildings south and north of Gaza city, forcing people to flee. Israel is believed to have detonated booby-trapped robots to destroy Gaza city neighbourhoods.
The army operation has also disrupted internet services, Wafa quoted Gaza's telecoms authority as saying.
The World Health Organisation warned that hospitals in northern Gaza were on the “brink of collapse” as the escalating violence prevented it from delivering life-saving supplies. WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus demanded an “end to these inhumane conditions” in a post on X.
Israel says Gaza city is a major Hamas stronghold housing between 2,000 and 3,000 fighters, with the military operation aiming to neutralise the group's central command.
But it has widened its pursuit of the group far beyond Gaza, last week bombing a building in the Qatari capital where Hamas leaders were meeting, killing six.
For the first time since the Doha strike, one of the Hamas figures attacked appeared in public on Wednesday, taking part in a live interview broadcast by Qatari channel Al Jazeera.
Ghazi Hamad, a top official in Hamas, said the attack occurred “less than an hour after we began studying the proposal” for a ceasefire.
“The rockets came down consecutively, without a pause, around 12 missiles in less than a minute,” he added.
International pressure on Israel over its conduct in the Gaza war has been growing. On Wednesday a UN investigator who this week accused Israel of committing genocide said she sees parallels with the butchery in Rwanda in the 1990s.
Navi Pillay, a South African former judge who headed the international tribunal for the Rwanda genocide, said she hopes one day Israeli leaders will be put behind bars.
“I consider it not impossible that there will be arrests and trials” in the future, she told news agency AFP.
Her Independent International Commission of Inquiry, which does not officially speak on behalf of the UN, issued a bombshell report on Tuesday concluding that “genocide is occurring in Gaza”, an accusation Israel vehemently denies.
It also accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials of incitement to the cause.
Israel categorically rejected the findings and slammed the report as “distorted and false”.
European countries have been increasingly critical of Israel's actions and a number have said they plan to recognise a Palestinian state this month, defying Israeli opposition.
England v South Africa schedule
- First Test: Starts Thursday, Lord's, 2pm (UAE)
- Second Test: July 14-18, Trent Bridge, Nottingham, 2pm
- Third Test: The Oval, London, July 27-31, 2pm
- Fourth Test: Old Trafford, Manchester, August 4-8
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
The 12
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
The language of diplomacy in 1853
Treaty of Peace in Perpetuity Agreed Upon by the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast on Behalf of Themselves, Their Heirs and Successors Under the Mediation of the Resident of the Persian Gulf, 1853
(This treaty gave the region the name “Trucial States”.)
We, whose seals are hereunto affixed, Sheikh Sultan bin Suggar, Chief of Rassool-Kheimah, Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon, Chief of Aboo Dhebbee, Sheikh Saeed bin Buyte, Chief of Debay, Sheikh Hamid bin Rashed, Chief of Ejman, Sheikh Abdoola bin Rashed, Chief of Umm-ool-Keiweyn, having experienced for a series of years the benefits and advantages resulting from a maritime truce contracted amongst ourselves under the mediation of the Resident in the Persian Gulf and renewed from time to time up to the present period, and being fully impressed, therefore, with a sense of evil consequence formerly arising, from the prosecution of our feuds at sea, whereby our subjects and dependants were prevented from carrying on the pearl fishery in security, and were exposed to interruption and molestation when passing on their lawful occasions, accordingly, we, as aforesaid have determined, for ourselves, our heirs and successors, to conclude together a lasting and inviolable peace from this time forth in perpetuity.
Taken from Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925-1939: the Imperial Oasis, by Clive Leatherdale
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The specs: 2019 BMW X4
Price, base / as tested: Dh276,675 / Dh346,800
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 354hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,550rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
2024%20Dubai%20Marathon%20Results
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EWomen%E2%80%99s%20race%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E1.%20Tigist%20Ketema%20(ETH)%202hrs%2016min%207sec%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%20Ruti%20Aga%20(ETH)%202%3A18%3A09%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%20Dera%20Dida%20(ETH)%202%3A19%3A29%0D%3Cbr%3EMen's%20race%3A%0D%3Cbr%3E1.%20Addisu%20Gobena%20(ETH)%202%3A05%3A01%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%20Lemi%20Dumicha%20(ETH)%202%3A05%3A20%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%20DejeneMegersa%20(ETH)%202%3A05%3A42%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
Slow loris biog
From: Lonely Loris is a Sunda slow loris, one of nine species of the animal native to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore
Status: Critically endangered, and listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list due to growing demand in the global exotic pet trade. It is one of the most popular primate species found at Indonesian pet markets
Likes: Sleeping, which they do for up to 18 hours a day. When they are awake, they like to eat fruit, insects, small birds and reptiles and some types of vegetation
Dislikes: Sunlight. Being a nocturnal animal, the slow loris wakes around sunset and is active throughout the night
Superpowers: His dangerous elbows. The slow loris’s doe eyes may make it look cute, but it is also deadly. The only known venomous primate, it hisses and clasps its paws and can produce a venom from its elbow that can cause anaphylactic shock and even death in humans
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
The specs: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
Price, base: Dh1,731,672
Engine: 6.5-litre V12
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 770hp @ 8,500rpm
Torque: 720Nm @ 6,750rpm
Fuel economy: 19.6L / 100km
The%20Little%20Mermaid%20
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
SECRET%20INVASION
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57%20Seconds
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The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
BRIEF SCORES
England 353 and 313-8 dec
(B Stokes 112, A Cook 88; M Morkel 3-70, K Rabada 3-85)
(J Bairstow 63, T Westley 59, J Root 50; K Maharaj 3-50)
South Africa 175 and 252
(T Bavuma 52; T Roland-Jones 5-57, J Anderson 3-25)
(D Elgar 136; M Ali 4-45, T Roland-Jones 3-72)
Result: England won by 239 runs
England lead four-match series 2-1
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
