Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
The Palestine-Israel crisis returns to The Hague on Monday as judges are asked for a first ruling on Israel's 57-year occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Dozens of countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the US and Britain, as well as Palestinian representatives, will take the stand during six days of hearings at the International Court of Justice.
Lawyers are seeking a verdict on the legal consequences of Israel’s actions since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, including settlements in the West Bank widely condemned as illegal.
The case is separate to South Africa’s accusation of genocide against Israel during the war in Gaza, which has shone a new spotlight on settler violence in the West Bank.
Unlike in the genocide case, a ruling on the West Bank and East Jerusalem would be non-binding, but any condemnation of Israel’s policies would carry significant symbolic weight.
A finding that Israel’s conduct, and the 57-year span of its actions, make the occupation illegal would be a “major outcome”, said Tareq Shrourou, a human rights lawyer in the UK who works for Palestinian causes.
UN members voted in 2022 to seek an advisory opinion from The Hague on Israel’s “prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation” of Palestinian territory.
Judges are also asked to rule on Israeli actions “altering the demographic composition, character and status” of Jerusalem and on policies alleged to be discriminatory.
The ICJ issued a ruling in 2004 that Israel had illegally built a wall in occupied territory that “severely impedes the exercise by the Palestinian people of its right to self-determination”.
However, the court is preparing “for the first time to broadly consider the legal consequences of Israel’s nearly six-decades-long occupation”, said Human Rights Watch adviser Clive Baldwin.
“Governments that are presenting their arguments to the court should seize these landmark hearings to highlight the grave abuses Israeli authorities are committing against Palestinians.”
The two-day hearings in the South Africa case attracted huge interest as pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched outside the Peace Palace. The court told Israel that it should do everything in its power to prevent a genocide in Gaza.
More than 50 countries, as well as the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation and the African Union, have been granted permission to intervene in the latest case.
Palestinian representatives will take the floor when the case opens on Monday. Israel has made a written statement but is not taking part in the oral hearings at the ICJ.
Countries have been allocated 30-minute speaking slots, with the UAE due to address the court on Wednesday. The hearings end the following Monday, when judges will hear from the three international organisations.
Lawyers taking the Palestinian side will first have to persuade the court, now led by Lebanese judge Nawaf Salam, to take up the case at all – with some countries expected to argue that it should be thrown out.
Annexation claim
On the substantive issues, pro-Palestinian lawyers are likely to argue that Israel’s settlement of the occupied West Bank “effectively amounts to annexation”, Mr Shrourou said.
While international law does not forbid all military occupations, it is considered illegal for an occupying power to move its people into the territory or seek to claim sovereignty over it.
A ruling on legal consequences could include an appeal to Israel to end its illegal conduct, and possibly pay reparations, while third parties could be called upon not to recognise or assist illegal activity in the West Bank.
An estimated 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, with recent expansion plans and violent clashes leading to condemnation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Efforts to curb the violence have been gathering pace in recent weeks as diplomats try to keep a two-state peace option on the table, which they say is threatened by Israeli settlements.
An order by US President Joe Biden at the start of February took aim at “extremist settler violence” by sanctioning four people and giving officials the power to freeze assets.
Yet the US has described the request to the ICJ as counterproductive and could use its speaking slot on Wednesday to oppose any ruling against Israel.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
Where to Find Me by Alba Arikha
Alma Books
The%20trailblazers
%3Cp%3ESixteen%20boys%20and%2015%20girls%20have%20gone%20on%20from%20Go-Pro%20Academy%20in%20Dubai%20to%20either%20professional%20contracts%20abroad%20or%20scholarships%20in%20the%20United%20States.%20Here%20are%20two%20of%20the%20most%20prominent.%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EGeorgia%20Gibson%20(Newcastle%20United)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EThe%20reason%20the%20academy%20in%20Dubai%20first%20set%20up%20a%20girls%E2%80%99%20programme%20was%20to%20help%20Gibson%20reach%20her%20potential.%20Now%20she%20plays%20professionally%20for%20Newcastle%20United%20in%20the%20UK.%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMackenzie%20Hunt%20(Everton)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EAttended%20DESS%20in%20Dubai%2C%20before%20heading%20to%20the%20UK%20to%20join%20Everton%20full%20time%20as%20a%20teenager.%20He%20was%20on%20the%20bench%20for%20the%20first%20team%20as%20recently%20as%20their%20fixture%20against%20Brighton%20on%20February%2024.%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Rock in a Hard Place: Music and Mayhem in the Middle East
Orlando Crowcroft
Zed Books
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
'Moonshot'
Director: Chris Winterbauer
Stars: Lana Condor and Cole Sprouse
Rating: 3/5
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
