Gaza families forced to sleep in lorries as winter temperatures drop

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Raed Safi, 35, holds a metal ladder in place, behind a 1980s lorry his late father used to transport goods.

His four children and three nephews carefully climb into what has become their home since December, in Gaza's Al Mawasi area.

They came here after they were forced out of Khan Younis by Israeli forces. Al Mawasi is one of the shrinking areas of Gaza that Israel has designated a so-called “safe zone” for Palestinians fleeing the war that started on October 7.

A few mattresses, blankets, and scattered household utensils under a makeshift fabric roof held up with some wooden poles – this is all that separates Mr Safi’s family from being completely destitute.

“It gets so cold in the lorry when the temperatures drop,” Mr Safi, who used to be a taxi driver, tells The National.

“It feels as if we are living in a refrigerator because of the frigid sea breeze.”

With virtually nowhere to go, thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought Al Mawasi, a narrow agricultural and fishing strip of coastal land one kilometre wide and 14km long, in the south of the enclave.

The sliver of land, which has no proper roads or sewage system, comprises mostly sand dunes and farmland.

The Safi family children in the lorry they now call home after fleeing war in Khan Younis. More than 10,000 children have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its offensive against Hamas.

Despite being designated a safe zone, a UN report on January 10 said Israeli forces launched several missiles at shelters and tents for the displaced in Al Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, killing 17 Palestinians including two women and 10 children.

The shelling adds to layers of difficulties faced by Palestinians in the area.

“The lives of the displaced at Al Mawasi are so tragic,” says Iyad Al Saqqa, head of the Jerusalem Association for Al Mawasi Development.

He says there are severe shortages of food, water, toilets, healthcare and medicines.

Also desperately needed are tents, clothes, mattresses and blankets.

His association helps to deliver relief and Mr Al Saqqa says the amount of aid that has reached Gaza does not meet the needs of the “hundreds of thousands” stranded outside official shelters run by the UN or local authorities.

The movement of aid into Gaza is tightly controlled under a blockade imposed by Israel.

“We must double the amount to avoid starvation as people only have access to some canned foods, beans and limited amounts of rice, flour and vegetables,” says Mr Al Saqqa.

Starved and destitute

The UN's humanitarian office says nearly 85 per cent of Gaza’s 2.3 million population have been internally displaced, mostly squeezed in southern parts of the besieged enclave.

Nearly 1.4 million are crammed in 155 shelters run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

There are no official numbers for those in Al Mawasi, as they are mostly not registered with UNRWA. However, they are estimated to be about 300,000, many of whom have no access to enough food and other basic necessities.

“There is no food, the children are all sick but there are no doctors or medicine,” Mr Safi says.

Like hundreds of families at Al Mawasi, Mr Safi’s family are struggling to find food and water.

We are dead people looking at life through the eye of a needle. The only evidence that we are still alive is that we are breathing

Talal Al Malayda,
Internally displaced Palestinian

The family prepares whatever food they can find on a wooden fire near the lorry, while Mr Safi and his siblings spend their days queuing for water, food and medicine for the children.

Many other families are also fighting for survival.

“We are dead people looking at life through the eye of a needle. The only evidence that we are still alive is that we are breathing,” Talal Al Malayda, 43, told The National.

“We live in constant hell.”

The family of 12, including his brother’s family, live in a wood and nylon pergola surrounded by palm branches. They were displaced from the north of Khan Younis about 40 days ago, only to find themselves facing more harsh conditions.

“We can neither find food to buy, nor do we have access to humanitarian assistance,” Mr Al Malayda says.

“We only carried some items, thinking we would return home in a few days.

“But it’s been over a month under impossible conditions.”

According to UN humanitarian office’s report this week, the entire Strip is at imminent risk of famine.

Food insecurity has reached critical levels, with 378,000 people classified at Phase 5, which refers to catastrophic levels where people suffer extreme lack of food, starvation and exhaustion of coping capacities, while 939,000 are designated at Phase 4 emergency levels.

Human Rights Watch accused Israel last November of using starvation as a weapon of war through its blockade.

Relief agencies are providing shelters in the areas of Al Mawasi such as the Palestine Red Crescent Society, which collaborated with the Egyptian Red Crescent to construct 300 tents, and plans to expand them to 1,000 tents in the final phase, accommodating up to 6,000 displaced individuals.

“Thousands of families register with us to request assistance, but the limited foreign aid means that each family gets sporadic assistance once or twice at best,” says Mr Al Saqqa.

“This has kept displaced families in a vicious battle for basic necessities.

“We need a large and regular flow of aid from outside Gaza to alleviate the widespread starvation.”

This article is produced in collaboration with Egab.

Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026

1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.

3. More tax audits

Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.

4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.

5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.

6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.

7. Limited time periods for audits

Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.

8. Pillar 2 implementation

Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.

9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.

10. Substance and CbC reporting focus

Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.

Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Explainer: Tanween Design Programme

Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.

The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.

It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.

The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.

Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”