Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Palestine
Talks on a potential prisoner exchange with Israel have begun, a senior Hamas official confirmed to The National but stressed it was too early to reach a deal that would lead to a decrease in hostilities.
Qatar has been in touch with Hamas officials in Doha and Gaza, according to reports.
Israel launched hundreds of air strikes on Gaza at the weekend, killing more than 900 Israelis and triggering reprisal air strikes that have left 430 dead in Gaza.
The potential deal would result in the release of Israeli prisoners taken hostage on Saturday, in exchange for the freedom of female Palestinian political prisoners.
Details about negotiations focusing on the release of 36 Palestinians from Israeli jails have not previously been reported.
“I think we are not talking about one country leading the efforts on mediation between Hamas and Israel, but I can say that talks have indeed begun since yesterday,” said Osama Hamdan, Hamas's top representative in Lebanon and member of the group’s political office.
Sources from Hamas confirmed that Qatar had begun mediation talks with Hamas on a potential deal that could see them exchange female Israeli prisoners for the release of female Palestinian prisoners.
Qatar and Egypt appear to be leading the efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire with the Palestinian group. Egyptian officials told The National that Egypt's contacts over the past 24 hours included talks with senior EU and US officials, as well as regional heavyweights such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel's blockade would be tightened to prevent food and fuel from being brought into the strip, home to 2.3 million people.
Egypt had urged Israel to exercise restraint and Hamas to hold its captives in good condition to keep open the possibility of de-escalation.
The Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, on Saturday launched “Operation Al Aqsa Flood” with rockets targeting enemy sites, airports, and military bases. Its fighters also launched a ground incursion into southern Israel and took dozens of Israeli hostages.
Hamas said it would initially agree to an exchange only if Israel releases all 36 female Palestinians currently in Israeli custody, according to one Hamas source. Eran Lerman, a former Israeli deputy national security adviser, said no Israeli would concede to conditions of the hostage takers, citing the brutality of the attack.
About 50 Israeli hostages are being held by Hamas militants in Beeri Kibbutz near the Gaza border, according to some Israeli reports.
Qatar has yet to publicly acknowledge its role in mediating a prisoner exchange deal. More recently, Qatar played a crucial role when it mediated between Hamas, Egypt and Israel to reopen a main crossing with the Gaza Strip at the end of September.
Gaza's Health Ministry said on Monday that about 493 Palestinians have been killed and 2,751 wounded in Israeli air strikes on the blockaded enclave since Saturday.
For a ceasefire to come into effect, Hamas is calling for an immediate stop to all Israeli settlement expansions and to Israeli aggression at the Al Aqsa mosque.
“In the end, our top priority and demand is for Israel to free all Palestinian prisoners and end Israeli provocations in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, particularly Al Aqsa Mosque,” Mr Hamdan said.
Mr Hamdan said hostilities are expected to continue for the foreseeable future given the group’s “armed victory”.
“We have had experience with the occupiers’ wars on Gaza in 2008 and 2014 so for the armed wing of Hamas, the Al Qassam Brigades to be so victorious over the past days gives many in Gaza the will to go on fighting until the end,” he said.
Israel's troops were still fighting to recapture its towns from Hamas fighters on Monday, acknowledging the battle was taking longer than expected more than two days after the militants crossed from Gaza.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
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July 22 v Chelsea in Beijing
July 29 v Benfica in London
July 30 v Sevilla in London
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
FIXTURES
Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place play-off
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Started: 2018
Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo
Based: Dubai
Sector: Transport
Size: 9 employees
Investment: $1,275,000
Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri
Dr Graham's three goals
Short term
Establish logistics and systems needed to globally deploy vaccines
Intermediate term
Build biomedical workforces in low- and middle-income nations
Long term
A prototype pathogen approach for pandemic preparedness
Sheer grandeur
The Owo building is 14 storeys high, seven of which are below ground, with the 30,000 square feet of amenities located subterranean, including a 16-seat private cinema, seven lounges, a gym, games room, treatment suites and bicycle storage.
A clear distinction between the residences and the Raffles hotel with the amenities operated separately.
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
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