Hamas will have to disarm for 'historic' meetings to go anywhere

Over the past few weeks, hopes of a breakthrough in the Gaza stalemate has steadily mounted. Palestinian Authority ministers finally met in the besieged strip for the first time in three years, ahead of negotiations between Fatah and its bitter rival Hamas that were brought to fruition by Egypt. While the meeting was overshadowed by a warning from Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas over Hamas's weapons and future arms ambitions, it was still deemed historic.

"Today, we stand before an important, historical moment as we begin to get over our wounds, put our differences aside and place the higher national interest above all else," said prime minister Rami Hamdallah.

It is a major development by any standard. After all, not only did his ministers, whose responsibilities had been confined to the West Bank, tentatively resume their roles in the crowded coastal territory that Hamas has controlled since a brief civil war a decade ago, but an Egypt security delegation also visited its chief Ismail Haniyeh.

Whether it will change anything on the ground, however, remains to be seen. Some reports now suggest talks have stalled, given Hamas’s refusal to disarm.

No matter what happens behind closed doors, Egypt has a key strategic role to play in Gaza’s future, despite tensions in recent years following Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi’s removal and the subsequent administration taking a tougher stance against the rulers of the strip.

The enduring tragedy of Gaza

Gaza may already be 'unlivable', says UN

Hamas building buffer zone as it seeks better Egypt ties

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Perhaps the biggest stumbling block in the way of progress is Hamas, an increasingly wounded and isolated group.

Its agenda makes key points of contention almost intractable. As The National reported when Hamas declared that it was making its mission statement "more nuanced" in May, words are not the same as actions. Mahmoud Zahar, the co-founder of Hamas, asserted at the time that any carefully-worded change of stance was merely "a tool for the future but it does not mean we're changing our principles".

However, Hamas, which is regarded as a terror group by the EU, the United States and most of the international community, is slowly pulling away from Doha and Tehran.
There are many details on the ground that would need to be hammered out before this week's tentative talks move towards anything approaching political settlement: borders (which the PA insists it will control), sanctions, which Mr Abbas vows will remain as long as Hamas remains militarised, arms, the ratio of PA staff to Hamas staff at the ministries, among others.

Indeed, there will be great suspicion that any mutual ground can be found and fully exploited. The historic may have happened, but the intractable seems to have surfaced almost as fast.

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Brief scoreline:

Al Wahda 2

Al Menhali 27', Tagliabue 79'

Al Nassr 3

Hamdallah 41', Giuliano 45 1', 62'

UAE%20medallists%20at%20Asian%20Games%202023

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Indoor cricket in a nutshell

Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai

16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side

8 There are eight players per team

9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.

5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls

4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership

Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.

Zones

A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs

B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run

C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs

D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

COMPANY%20PROFILE

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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.

Russia's Muslim Heartlands

Dominic Rubin, Oxford