Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
Israel resumed pumping thousands of cubic metres of Mediterranean seawater into Hamas tunnels in Gaza on Wednesday, sparking concerns that hostages who may be held underground could be at risk.
According to Hamas, 500km of warren-like structures – known as the “Gaza metro” – have been built. Other estimates put the length of the complex at about 250km.
Israeli forces continue to discover more tunnels in continuing operations.
“It is part of a range of tools deployed by the [military] to neutralise the threat of Hamas's subterranean network of tunnels,” an Israeli army spokesman said.
It is not the first time the tunnels have been partly flooded, after an Israeli trial run of the tactic last year. Egypt used the tactic in 2015 to destroy tunnels used for smuggling on its border.
More than 50 years ago, the Vietnam war included a gruesome struggle by the US and allies against tunnel complexes spanning hundreds of kilometres used by Vietcong fighters.
Like Israel has in Gaza, US forces in Vietnam used bombs with delayed fuses that burrowed into earth, creating shock waves to crush the structures. But the tunnels continued to frustrate US offensives.
Efforts involved pumping tunnels with explosive gas and tear gas, flooding them, defoliating areas above ground with carcinogenic herbicides and clearing stretches of jungle.
Specialist volunteers, the Tunnel Rats, were sent alone underground for deadly missions armed with a torch and a pistol.
Today, Israel has Yahalom, a part of its Combat Engineering Corps, the equivalent of the US Army Corps of Engineers who fought in the tunnels in Vietnam. Within Yahalom, Israel has the Samur, or “weasel” soldiers – their own Tunnel Rats.
The US effort in Vietnam took two years, suggesting Israel will not achieve its war aims soon against Hamas tunnels that could be sturdier and deeper underground.
Tunnel warfare, fought in darkness in cramped spaces where even night-vision devices do not work, and the threat of booby traps, minimises advantages for attackers.
Israel has some options unavailable to the US in Vietnam, including armed drones such as the Lanius, which co-ordinates with a ground robot.
But it is not clear whether such systems can cover kilometres of tunnels.
“The largest VC tunnel system by far was in Ben Cat and Phu Hoa districts north of Saigon – no other part of South Vietnam had a tunnel system even remotely as complex. The tunnels of Cu Chi were actually in Phu Hoa district, Binh Duong province,” said Erik Villard, a US army historian of the conflict, referring to tunnels that are now a popular tourist attraction.
“The tunnel system in the Iron Triangle [an infamous Vietcong base area] was … around 15km north to south and about 7km wide. There was another tunnel system in neighbouring Phu Hoa district that was rectangular, about 15km long and 8km wide.”
The US launched two huge military operations to clear these complexes, Operation Crimp and Operation Cedar Falls, the latter being the largest in the war, with 30,000 US and allied troops.
US and Australian soldiers encountered problems faced by Israelis now, finding themselves camped directly above tunnel systems and subject to pop-up attacks where they could take casualties but only had seconds to respond before the enemy disappeared underground.
The tunnels, despite often being crudely built, proved extremely hard to destroy. In Vietnam, the complexes contained provisions and amenities that could sustain forces for months, including medical care, thought to be the case in Gaza today.
“Most of the tunnels were packed earth with some wood reinforcements, occasionally multilevel, but mostly a warren of single level tunnels relatively close to the surface,” Mr Villard said.
“They were largely used to hide local Vietcong guerrillas and Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army command cadres that controlled the area north of Saigon and provide storage for supplies.”
By contrast, Hamas’s tunnels are built with prefabricated concrete.
In Vietnam, US forces eventually removed civilians around one of the largest tunnel complexes, before heavily bombing the area.
Gaza however, is heavily built up and Israeli air strikes have already killed many thousands of civilians.
“The US experimented with other ways of defeating the tunnels, none of which proved to be very effective,” said Mr Villard.
“They tried to use a bedbug system that would sniff out humans and then alert the device operator, but the bugs couldn’t differentiate between friend and enemy.
Tunnel rats were the most effective way of determining the extent of the tunnels and retrieving intel. Combat engineers would then seal the tunnel with explosives
Erik Villard,
historian at the US Army Centre of Military History
“The Mighty Mite system tried to use smoke blowers to flood the tunnels with smoke, but water traps and internal doors prevented the smoke from going very far.
“Tunnel rats were the most effective way of determining the extent of the tunnels and retrieving intel. Combat engineers would then seal the tunnel with explosives, but the best method of destroying them were Arc Light strikes.”
B-52s in Vietnam were able to drop colossal bomb loads on enemy targets, carrying 31 tonnes of bombs each. They often attacked in groups of three, in what was known as Arc Light missions.
In one operation against the Iron Triangle tunnels, 125 B-52 strikes were launched.
“The tunnels in Ben Cat lost much of their importance after Cedar Falls as Rome Plough operations, Arc Light strikes and population relocation turned the area into a wasteland,” said Mr Villard, referring to razor-sharp ploughs on bulldozers used for cutting down jungle.
“The allies never entirely destroyed the tunnel system in Ben Cat and Phu Hoa Districts, but by mid-1968 the US had largely neutralised the value of the tunnels to the enemy by deforesting the area, bombing it with B-52 strikes, locating and blowing up many key tunnels using enemy defectors to point them out, or sometimes finding them with careful searches.”
“It took about two years to neutralise the main threat from the tunnels.”
Hamas holdouts
It remains to be seen whether Israel will spend a similar amount of time in Gaza.
Asked if Hamas could hold out in the tunnels for months, David Hartwell, a security and political-risk analyst focused on the Middle East, said: “It's a tough question because only the Israelis have enough intelligence on their extent and complexity.
“Given how long Hamas has been preparing for this though, nothing would surprise me. It probably also comes down to what we mean by 'neutralise' [the tunnels],” he said, when discussing crushing tunnels or merely sealing them off.
“Take out of action or destroy – there is obviously a difference. I doubt they can destroy them all in the remaining time they’ve got, so it’s more likely to be a case of putting them beyond use and then leaving their long-term destruction to any follow-on non-Hamas administration.
“Lots of ifs and buts though, as the Israelis don’t trust anyone other than themselves to do the job properly. They have to hope they can complete it before [US President Joe] Biden starts turning the screw on de-escalation.”
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Vaccine Progress in the Middle East
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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.
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
The specs: Aston Martin DB11 V8 vs Ferrari GTC4Lusso T
Price, base: Dh840,000; Dh120,000
Engine: 4.0L V8 twin-turbo; 3.9L V8 turbo
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic; seven-speed automatic
Power: 509hp @ 6,000rpm; 601hp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 695Nm @ 2,000rpm; 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.9L / 100km; 11.6L / 100km
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What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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”.
The Kingfisher Secret
Anonymous, Penguin Books
Leading all-time NBA scorers
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387
Karl Malone 36,928
Kobe Bryant 33,643
Michael Jordan 32,292
LeBron James 31,425
Wilt Chamberlain 31,419
RESULTS
Argentina 4 Haiti 0
Peru 2 Scotland 0
Panama 0 Northern Ireland 0
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
Company%C2%A0profile
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Gully Boy
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Producer: Excel Entertainment & Tiger Baby
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi
Rating: 4/5 stars
