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UN humanitarian aid operations in Gaza were forced to halt on Monday following new evacuation orders from Israel, issued late on Sunday for Deir Al Balah in the central Gaza Strip, a senior official said.
“What transpired over the weekend brings us to a point where we just cannot continue to operate, and it's not under our control … practically we cannot operate,” the UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters.
“This morning, I had a chat with my security adviser on the ground, and I asked, 'are there any operations this morning?' He said ‘no, impossible'.”
The official said the UN had relocated its main command operations for the Gaza Strip and most personnel to Deir Al Balah after Israel ordered the evacuation of Rafah in the south of Gaza.
The Israeli military said on Monday it was going after “terror operatives” in Deir Al Balah and working to dismantle the “remaining terrorist infrastructure” of Hamas, whose attack on southern Israel on October 7 triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.
People in Deir Al Balah were told by the Israeli military on Sunday to “evacuate immediately”.
Despite the operational challenges, the UN official emphasised that the world body has no plans to withdraw from Gaza.
“We need to find solutions,” the official said. “And if it means that we need to anchor down for 24-48 hours and reset, we do that. But we're not leaving. Right now, the challenge is to find a place where we can reset and effectively operate.”
When questioned about whether Israel is viewed as a partner or adversary in the UN's efforts in Gaza, the official said: “Israel is a partner and I think for us … to bring Israel to trust us, to trust the UN.”
Speaking from Gaza, Louise Wateridge, senior communications officer for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said about 15 displacement orders have been issued in the past month.
“Every time there is an evacuation order issued, our facilities are very often in those areas and we have had to stop what we're doing and rethink everything,” she said.
Ms Wateridge said there was “no humanity left” in Gaza.
“People are using the sand and building walls with the sand to stop the seawater coming into their makeshift shelters … there are scorpions, there are mosquitoes, rats, mice, snakes among the population who are living in these conditions,” she explained.
“We're seeing an increase in spread of disease … there is very limited hope … It's very degrading for the population. But really, when you talk to people, they tell you now that they are really waiting for death.”
Echoing Ms Wateridge's concerns, Sam Rose, UNRWA's senior deputy field director, said: “We are being squeezed into ever smaller areas of Gaza. The humanitarian zone declared by Israel has shrunk.
“It's now about 11 per cent of the entire Gaza Strip. And this isn't 11 per cent of land that is fit for habitation, fit for services, fit for life, really. These are sand dunes.”
Since the Gaza war began, more than 40,400 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza's health authority. More than twice that number have been injured and most of the enclave's 2.3 million residents displaced, some several times.
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The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make
When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.
“You get growth upon growth upon growth, followed by more growth. The earlier you start the process, the more it will all roll up,” says Chris Davies, chartered financial planner at The Fry Group in Dubai.
This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).
|
Age
|
$250 a month
|
$500 a month
|
$1,000 a month
|
|
25
|
$640,829
|
$1,281,657
|
$2,563,315
|
|
35
|
$303,219
|
$606,439
|
$1,212,877
|
|
45
|
$131,596
|
$263,191
|
$526,382
|
|
55
|
$44,351
|
$88,702
|
$177,403
|
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
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