Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
At least 25 people were killed and dozens injured by an Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza city on Friday, relatives of victims told The National.
Rescuers reported people calling for help from beneath the rubble, but said they have been unable to reach them.
The strike targeted the home of the Al Tabatibi family in the Sidra area of the Daraj neighbourhood, in the north-west of Gaza's old city.
Witnesses told The National about 30 members of the Al Tabatibi family and people from the Shaban and Humad families were in the house, which had several floors.
“The Israeli warplanes targeted my cousin's house,” said Shadi Al Tabatibi, 33. “There were displaced people from the Al Tabatibi family and their relatives gathered there.
“The air strike killed more than 25 who were my relatives. They are normal people and don’t belong to any resistance activities.”
Neighbour Hussein Al Hallou also said the family had no connection to armed groups.
“The house was bombed after midnight. It had many levels and was filled with people who, as we know them, have no affiliation with any group or military activity,” Mr Al Hallou, 28, told The National.
Dozens of injured people were taken on donkey carts to Al Ahli Hospital, he said.
“Civil defence teams attempted to search for those injured, but they were unable to, despite hearing many voices calling for help,” said Mr Al Hallou.
“Unfortunately, there were no resources available to assist those under the rubble.”
Mr Al Hallou said neighbours and civil defence teams were continuing to search for survivors and bodies, though usually without success.
“There are no tools or equipment available to help us, so we have not had any luck,” he said.
The Israeli military also launched air strikes on the northern areas of the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza while its troops blew up a number of buildings north of the camp.
Israeli warships shelled a primary school in the camp, killing one civilian and injuring dozens of others, Wafa said.
The attacks follow an air strike on the popular Firas Market in Gaza city on Thursday that killed at least six people and injured 20 others.
Civil defence teams were working to recover bodies and people trapped under the rubble after the market was hit by two missiles, Wafa said.
The news agency said more deaths and injuries were reported after Israel bombed another market in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, without providing figures.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 63 Palestinians have been killed and 45 injured in Israeli attacks across the enclave in the past 24 hours.
The number of people killed in the Gaza since the war began on October 7 rose to 33,545 on Thursday, most of whom were women and children, the ministry said. The number of injured reached 76,094.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he planned to keep up the war in Gaza but was also preparing for scenarios in other areas.
Israel is concerned that Iran is preparing to retaliate for the killing of a senior general and six other Iranian officers in an air strike on the country's embassy compound in Damascus on April 1.
“Whoever harms us, we will harm them. We are prepared to meet all of the security needs of the State of Israel, both defensively and offensively,” Mr Netanyahu said in comments released by his office following a visit to the Tel Nof air force base in southern Israel.
Israel has not said it was responsible but Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Wednesday that Israel “must be punished and it shall be” for the Damascus attack.
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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Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
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Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
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Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
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The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
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