In October Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a controversial law banning all operations by UNRWA, the UN relief agency for Palestinians, in areas where Israeli law applies.
The ban comes into effect today – at the worst possible time for the 2.3 million residents of Gaza, as a ceasefire that halted a devastating 15-month war had presented UNRWA and other agencies with the opportunity to deliver them much-needed aid.
The impact of ending the provision of education, health care and other services in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, as well as severely complicating the aid operation in Gaza, is certain to be profound and long-lasting. Such is the scope and scale of the organisation’s role in providing support to millions of Palestinians living as refugees inside the occupied territories, as well as in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
The agency’s origin story is essential to understanding how central, perhaps even ubiquitous, it has been to four generations of Palestinians. Established by the UN General Assembly in 1949, its mission was to carry out relief and development programmes – including providing food, health care and education – to the tens of thousands of Palestinians displaced by establishment of the State of Israel. The organisation has since grown, employing tens of thousands of Palestinian workers. In essence, it carries out the work of what a Palestinian state would provide its people.
Since the onset of Israel’s latest, and most destructive, war in Gaza, UNRWA says it has provided food for almost 2 million people, primary healthcare consultations to 1.6 million of them, and water to more than 600,000. It has also managed more than 100 emergency shelters and provided mental health support for 800,000 residents – all of this during a conflict that left more than 47,100 people dead and displaced more than 90 per cent of Gaza’s population.
UNRWA’s existence has served to remind the rest of the world of the Palestinian cause. Israel’s critics often say that this is in part why the country’s political class has long sought to undermine the agency’s work. Indeed, the ban follows previous, unsuccessful attempts by the Israeli government to have the organisation defunded, and even decommissioned.
UNRWA’s existence itself has served to remind the rest of the world of the Palestinian cause
After Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel alleged that several UNRWA staff members directly took part in the raids. A recent internal investigation by UNRWA did find a few of its several thousand Palestinian employees were involved, but the extent of participation was nowhere near the scale Israel claimed. People who committed crimes should be held responsible, but not an entire agency.
Nonetheless, the agency’s impending closure in Israel is bound to make an already terrible situation for the Palestinian people decidedly worse. Given the scale of Gaza’s devastation and increasing instability across the West Bank, a fully functional UNRWA is needed now more than ever. With its operations certain to be crippled, millions risk being further disempowered and impoverished. To an extent, it will also untether Israel from its moral responsibility for the dispossession of the Palestinian people that its forces – and the international community – oversaw from 1947 to 1949.
That same international community is watching from the sidelines, as Israel prepares to enforce its ban today. Having received support from the US, no amount of pressure from other countries is likely to deter it from going ahead with its plan. Yet the international community still has an imperative to act, and act quickly.
It needs to insist upon UNRWA’s right to continue its work and, failing that, should rally around the idea of building a temporary, alternative agency capable of filling some of the vacuum that the UNRWA ban will inevitably leave – at least until a viable path to nationhood can be found for the Palestinian people. The rest of the world has a moral responsibility of continuing to support them, particularly in their most desperate hour.
MATCH INFO
Northern Warriors 92-1 (10 ovs)
Russell 37 no, Billings 35 no
Team Abu Dhabi 93-4 (8.3 ovs)
Wright 48, Moeen 30, Green 2-22
Team Abu Dhabi win by six wickets
MATCH INFO
What: Brazil v South Korea
When: Tonight, 5.30pm
Where: Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae
Results
2.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m
Winner Lamia, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
3pm Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,000m
Winner Jap Al Afreet, Elione Chaves, Irfan Ellahi.
3.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m
Winner MH Tawag, Bernardo Pinheiro, Elise Jeanne.
4pm Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 2,000m
Winner Skygazer, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
4.30pm The Ruler of Sharjah Cup Prestige (PA) Dh250,000 1,700m
Winner AF Kal Noor, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
5pm Sharjah Marathon (PA) Dh70,000 2,700m
Winner RB Grynade, Bernardo Pinheiro, Eric Lemartinel.
Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Brief scoreline:
Crystal Palace 2
Milivojevic 76' (pen), Van Aanholt 88'
Huddersfield Town 0
Don't get fined
The UAE FTA requires following to be kept:
- Records of all supplies and imports of goods and services
- All tax invoices and tax credit notes
- Alternative documents related to receiving goods or services
- All tax invoices and tax credit notes
- Alternative documents issued
- Records of goods and services that have been disposed of or used for matters not related to business
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4-cyl
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Power: 190bhp
Torque: 300Nm
Price: Dh169,900
On sale: now
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 3
Danilo (16'), Bernardo Silva (34'), Fernandinho (72')
Brighton & Hove Albion 1
Ulloa (20')
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Day 5, Dubai Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Given the problems Sri Lanka have had in recent times, it was apt the winning catch was taken by Dinesh Chandimal. He is one of seven different captains Sri Lanka have had in just the past two years. He leads in understated fashion, but by example. His century in the first innings of this series set the shock win in motion.
Stat of the day This was the ninth Test Pakistan have lost in their past 11 matches, a run that started when they lost the final match of their three-Test series against West Indies in Sharjah last year. They have not drawn a match in almost two years and 19 matches, since they were held by England at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi in 2015.
The verdict Mickey Arthur basically acknowledged he had erred by basing Pakistan’s gameplan around three seam bowlers and asking for pitches with plenty of grass in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Why would Pakistan want to change the method that has treated them so well on these grounds in the past 10 years? It is unlikely Misbah-ul-Haq would have made the same mistake.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
