Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Israel launched a barrage of attacks across Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon on Wednesday in an escalation set to hinder ceasefire talks scheduled for Thursday.
Israeli drone strikes killed four people near the occupied West Bank town of Tamoun, the Wafa news agency reported, with the men's bodies being detained by the Israeli army. The Palestine Red Crescent said it was blocked from accessing the scene of strikes.
Fighting also occurred in the occupied West Bank, where Israel's military said it conducted a raid on Tubas, near Tamoun. One fighter, a member of the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, was killed.
“Our fighters have been engaged for hours in fierce clashes with the invading occupation forces in Tubas,” the group said, The Israeli army said the raid was “counterterror activity”.
In Gaza, which has been repeatedly bombarded since the war began on October 7, at least 21 people were killed by Israeli fire this morning. Strikes on homes in the central Nuseirat and Maghazi refugee camps as well as in Rafah to the south and Beit Lahia, to the north brought the death toll to more than 39,900.
The war began after a surprise attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants killed about 1,200.
In Khan Younis, Gaza's second largest city, the enclave's civil defence team worked to recover people trapped under the rubble of several homes destroyed by strikes in the east of the city which killed eight and injured 31. More areas of the city were hit by tank fire.
Residents and those displaced to Khan Younis, which had previously been declared a safe humanitarian zone by Israel, were ordered to evacuate several areas of the city again by Israel last week.
Israel said it was responding to Hamas rocket fire towards Tel Aviv on Tuesday and had struck rocket launching pads and militants among 40 military targets over 24 hours, including in central Gaza, Khan Younis, and western Rafah in the south.
In Lebanon, at least 17 people were injured in an Israeli air strike on the town of Abbasiyyah, near the southern city of Tyre.
On Wednesday evening, aerial assaults were reported on the border villages of Blida, Houla and Aita Al Shaab. No casualties were initially reported. Two people were injured in a strike on Rab Al Thalathine, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
It was initially unclear who Israel was targeting, but it regularly hits members of Hezbollah in Lebanese territory. Those attacks frequently incur civilian casualties.
The sudden increase and breadth of attacks came on the eve of renewed ceasefire talks to be held in Doha on Thursday, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an Israeli delegation would attend.
A Hamas representative in Lebanon said the group would not take part, saying Israeli aggression must stop “immediately”.
“Hamas is not concerned with Thursday's negotiations and has not changed its position, and will not attend,” Hamas representative in Lebanon, Ahmad Abdul Hadi told The National on Wednesday.
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EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
Fanney Khan
Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora
Director: Atul Manjrekar
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand
Rating: 2/5
Red Joan
Director: Trevor Nunn
Starring: Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson, Tereza Srbova
Rating: 3/5 stars
F1 line ups in 2018
Mercedes-GP Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas; Ferrari Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen; Red Bull Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen; Force India Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez; Renault Nico Hülkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr; Williams Lance Stroll and Felipe Massa / Robert Kubica / Paul di Resta; McLaren Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne; Toro Rosso TBA; Haas F1 Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen; Sauber TBA
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Tips for SMEs to cope
- Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
- Make sure you have an online presence
- Open communication with suppliers, especially if they are international. Look for local suppliers to avoid delivery delays
- Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
Courtesy: Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, which provides term finance and working capital finance to SMEs. Only SMEs that have been trading for two years are eligible for funding from Beehive.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
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Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
