In Gaza city, water trickles in only every few days, the internet has gone dark and the generators that once powered entire neighbourhoods lie silent. Shops are shuttered, their owners long having fled to the south. Food is scarce and fear is omnipresent, and yet many families are staying put.
For those who refuse to leave, remaining in Gaza is not merely about survival. It is an act of defiance – a refusal to abandon homes, neighbourhoods and histories to destruction.
In Al Shifa district, Amina Abu Sultan, 28, lives with nearly 20 relatives in a single house. Her family, which includes parents, uncles, cousins and siblings, has chosen to stay, despite the risks.
“Life in Gaza is almost impossible,” Miss Abu Sultan told The National. “There is no water, no internet, no electricity and even food is in short supply because most shop owners and street vendors have fled south.”
But the absence of necessities is only part of the hardship. “On top of the constant fear of bombardment and the advance of the occupation [Israeli] forces, we are left without even the most basic necessities of life. Sadly, no one is supporting us in our decision to remain in Gaza city,” she added.
On Sunday tanks advanced deep into Al Shifa Street and the Al Nasr neighbourhood, coming within 500 metres of Miss Abu Sultan's home before pulling back. “If they hadn’t, it could have been a massacre,” she said.
That same day, the tanks turned their attention to Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical complex. Inside, Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the hospital's director, ordered an emergency relocation.
“We evacuated the reception and emergency department, as they were closest to the advancing tanks,” Dr Abu Salmiya explained to The National. “We moved those areas to the maternity ward in the south-western part of the hospital, and continued providing medical and emergency services.”
The citizens of Gaza continue to persevere under the harshest conditions, without access to any of life's essentials
Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya,
Al Shifa hospital director
The conditions are dire. Many medical staff have fled Gaza city, but some remain, treating the wounded and sick despite severe shortages of medicine, fuel and water. “The citizens of Gaza continue to persevere under the harshest conditions, without access to any of life's essentials,” Dr Abu Salmiya said.
Even getting to the hospital is fraught with danger. Ambulances can only operate in limited areas due to the Israeli military's presence and the constant shelling. “Gaza city urgently needs international intervention,” Dr Abu Salmiya said. “To save it from destruction, to support the resilience of medical teams and civilians and to deliver the essentials of life.”
But even the hospitals that remain operational are not safe. At Al Ahli Hospital, located in the heart of Gaza city, violence has taken a new and terrifying form. Nader Al Haw, 32, came to the hospital with his injured brother after an air strike on the Al Daraj neighbourhood. What he witnessed shocked him.
“An armed group of masked men, believed to be collaborators working with the Israeli army, opened heavy fire on Al Ahli Hospital,” Mr Al Haw told The National. “Two people were killed, others injured. The place was thrown into chaos – everyone there was either a doctor, a patient, or a civilian.”
He noted that such incidents are not isolated. “These militias operate in eastern Gaza, aiming to frighten civilians into fleeing south, after the occupation [Israel] failed to force them out with firepower alone.”
For countless civilians in Gaza city, leaving is not an option – even as survival becomes increasingly difficult. People are only able to move freely within a 3km radius inside the city.
“All of us are still here, refusing to leave because there is nowhere else to go,” Miss Abu Sultan says.
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
The biog
Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology
Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India
Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur
How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993
Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters
Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo
LIVING IN...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Ready Player One
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Rylance
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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