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US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel on Friday to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his cabinet.
Mr Austin is expected to reaffirm Washington's “unwavering support” and ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself, the Pentagon said.
He will also inspect some of the security assistance the US has delivered to its ally.
The trip comes as Washington works to help Israel respond to Saturday's Hamas attacks that triggered a wave of violence that has killed thousands of people in Gaza and Israel.
Mr Austin “is looking forward to speaking in depth with Israeli leaders about their operational planning and their objectives for this conflict”, a senior US defence official told reporters.
Mr Austin's trip will come a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel in a show of solidarity.
Hamas militants smashed through the border fence enclosing the Gaza Strip at the weekend and went on a horrific rampage, attacking civilians in southern Israel as thousands of rockets flew overhead.
The Israeli military's response has so far been to bomb large parts of Gaza in retaliatory strikes that have killed hundreds of people, many of them children.
So far, the US has sent an aircraft carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean, deployed warplanes to the region and is rushing munitions, including small diameter bombs, to Israel, the official said.
At the White House earlier on Thursday, National Security spokesman John Kirby said there was no intention to send US troops into Israel to assist in any military operations.
Speculative media reports have suggested the Pentagon is considering sending US special operations forces to Israel to help extract American hostages held by Hamas.
“There is no intention, no plan and, frankly, no desire by the Israelis for US combat troops to be involved in this conflict,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
But the senior defence source said there were “military personnel” attached to the US embassy already in Israel “providing advice on hostage recovery, which obviously is a really significant concern and priority for both the United States and Israel”.
When asked if Washington would put any restrictions put on how Israel uses US-provided weapons in Gaza, Mr Kirby said: “I won’t speak about that for Israeli operational security reasons.”
The US often places restrictions on weapons sales to countries if there are concerns they will be used against civilians.
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet
- Ban fruit juice and sodas
- Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
- Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
- Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
- Don’t eat dessert every day
- Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
- Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
- Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
- Eat everything in moderation
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”.
