Fakhar Taj Shaer from Gaza said the war 'will not stop me from feeding the animals'.
Fakhar Taj Shaer from Gaza said the war 'will not stop me from feeding the animals'.
Fakhar Taj Shaer from Gaza said the war 'will not stop me from feeding the animals'.
Fakhar Taj Shaer from Gaza said the war 'will not stop me from feeding the animals'.

Birds of peace give purpose to Lebanese woman stuck in Gaza's Khan Younis


Nagham Mohanna
  • English
  • Arabic

Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza

Fakhar Taj Shear's birds may not be white doves but they do bring peace to the 70 year old who has lived throughout years of war and conflict in the Gaza Strip.

As thousands are fleeing their homes from Israel’s brutal air strikes, the Lebanese decided to take her birds with her when she fled to Khan Younis in the south.

Ms Shear left her homeland in 1978 after Israel's invasion of southern Lebanon, in which her husband, who is Palestinian, was killed.

“I love animals more than myself,” she told The National. "They are my healing mechanism."

Ms Shear and her family, now her daughter Raneem, grandson Ahmed and, of course, her birds, have set up camp outside Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip in a tent.

“They have a right to live,” she said of her birds. "Every morning, we sit and have a coffee and talk to them.

“Before I buy food for myself and my daughter, I buy for the birds. Who will protect them? They heal me."

The birds are named Ahmed, after her grandson, Raneem, after her daughter, and Fakhar, after herself.

She also has a large fish tank at her home.

"I couldn't bring the tank with me, so I usually go back to feed them despite the dangers,” Ms Shear said.

"I'm not afraid of the air strikes. Let them target us. This will not stop me from feeding the animals."

Ms Shear said her daughter lived near the Rafah border but fled for her safety at the start of the war.

Like many Palestinians, Ms Shear and her family have been living in the "worst of conditions" since Israel imposed a siege on the Gaza Strip after the attack by Hamas on October 7.

Hamas killed about 1,400 Israelis and took about 240 hostage.

Israeli has retaliated with a brutal air-strike campaign and launched a ground invasion into the enclave.

The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war had exceeded 9,000 on Thursday, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said. In the occupied West Bank, 130 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids.

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Men:

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3. Reuben Kipyego(KEN) 2:08:25 

4. Abel Kirui(KEN) 2:08:46 

5. Felix Kemutai(KEN) 2:10:48  

Women:

1. Judith Korir(KEN) 2:22:30 

2. Eunice Chumba(BHR) 2:26:01 

3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30 

4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43 

5. Aleksandra Morozova(RUS) 2:33:01  

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New schools in Dubai
Company profile

Name: Infinite8

Based: Dubai

Launch year: 2017

Number of employees: 90

Sector: Online gaming industry

Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

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Top 5 concerns globally:

1. Unemployment

2. Spread of infectious diseases

3. Fiscal crises

4. Cyber attacks

5. Profound social instability

Top 5 concerns in the Mena region

1. Energy price shock

2. Fiscal crises

3. Spread of infectious diseases

4. Unmanageable inflation

5. Cyber attacks

Source: World Economic Foundation

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Dir: R Balki

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte

Three-and-a-half stars

Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions

There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.

1 Going Dark

A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.

2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers

A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.

3. Fake Destinations

Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.

4. Rebranded Barrels

Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.

* Bloomberg

MATCH INFO

Barcelona 4 (Suarez 27', Vidal 32', Dembele 35', Messi 78')

Sevilla 0

Red cards: Ronald Araujo, Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona)

Updated: November 02, 2023, 1:47 PM`