When Ibrahim Abo Zbeida, 42, was released from an Israeli prison this week after nearly two years, he was looking forward to reuniting with his family in Gaza. Instead, he found that world no longer existed.
Fourteen members of his family, including his mother and siblings, had been killed in Israeli strikes while he was imprisoned – and he had no idea.
“I got out to find myself with no mother, no siblings. I lost them all,” he said, holding back tears. “They told me I’d lose everything – and they fulfilled their promise.”
Mr Abo Zbeida was arrested in southern Gaza while attempting to flee heavy bombardment in his neighbourhood. He was taken to Sde Teiman, a military base that doubles as a detention centre in the Negev desert, which has been flagged for extreme torture and abuse by former detainees, whistleblowers, human rights organisations and UN experts.
“It’s not a prison, it’s a graveyard, a slaughterhouse,” Mr Abo Zbeida told The National. He described a cycle of torture, humiliation and psychological torment that he endured for 20 months.
From being forced to kneel for 18 consecutive hours to receiving only a few spoonfuls of food a day, Mr Abo Zbeida said that he and the other detainees were "tortured in every possible way".
A cancer patient, he said he was denied medical treatment for the duration of his detention in Sde Teiman. "They even fought me with my illness," he told The National. "I reached death."
Bitter freedom
Mr Abo Zbeida was among hundreds of Palestinian detainees who were freed under a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that went into effect last week. The truce, part of US President Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan for Gaza, involved the release of hostages held in Gaza and of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
But even their long-awaited release came with cruelty, he said. "Minutes before we got on the bus to leave, they sent me a message saying: 'Tell your family that the war between us isn’t over yet. We will kill them all,'" he recalled.
Hours later, that threat became his reality. On reaching Gaza, he learnt that Israeli strikes had killed 14 members of his family. “I was surprised when they weren’t there to welcome me,” he said with tears in his eyes. “I had no idea they were gone. For 20 months, I had no idea.”
For Mr Abo Zbeida, the torment he lived through in Israeli detention was not as painful as losing his mother. "They robbed me of seeing her," he said, caressing her face in a framed family picture. "She was my whole world. Who is more precious than a mother?"
His father, Ahmad Abo Zbeida, says the son who came back is not the same man who was taken. “He was released, thank God, but the torture really changed him,” he said quietly.
Mr Abo Zbeida now struggles to remember dates, numbers and the names of his loved ones. Still, he insists he will not leave Gaza.
“They want to push us out. But where would we go?” he said. “My mother was everything to me. They took her, but they will not take our land.”
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
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What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
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Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
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Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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2.
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Ultra processed foods
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
