UN chief Antonio Guterres barred from entering Israel

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Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday barred UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres from entering the country for what he described as his failure to “unequivocally condemn” Iran's missile attack on Tuesday night.

“Today, I have declared UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres persona non grata in Israel and banned him from entering the country,” Mr Katz said on X.

Iran launched the largest direct attack on Israel since the war on Gaza started last October, firing what it said were 200 missiles including hypersonic weapons, and sending Israeli civilians into shelters. No casualties were reported in the attack.

“Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran's heinous attack on Israel, as nearly all the countries of the world have done, does not deserve to set foot on Israeli soil,” Mr Katz said. He accused Mr Guterres of providing support to “Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and now Iran, the mother ship of global terror”.

Mr Guterres issued a statement on Tuesday referencing only the “latest attacks in the Middle East” and condemning the conflict “with escalation after escalation”.

Israel, which put the number of missiles fired at its territory at 180, bombarded Lebanese strongholds of Iran's ally, Hezbollah, in south Lebanon with heavy strikes early on Wednesday. World leaders have urged Iran and Israel to step back from the brink after Tehran's attack.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Tuesday's attack was in response to Israel's killing last week of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, as well as the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a Tehran bombing in July, widely blamed on Israel.

The attack also sought to avenge Israel's killing of leading Iranian commander Abbas Nilforoushan of the Quds Force, the Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations arm, in the strikes that also killed Mr Nasrallah.

Israel said this week it had begun a ground invasion in Lebanon, while Hezbollah on Wednesday said it clashed with Israeli troops who tried to infiltrate a town in the south of the country, as their conflict gradually escalates into street fighting.

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

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Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.

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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.

Itcan profile

Founders: Mansour Althani and Abdullah Althani

Based: Business Bay, with offices in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and India

Sector: Technology, digital marketing and e-commerce

Size: 70 employees

Revenue: On track to make Dh100 million in revenue this year since its 2015 launch

Funding: Self-funded to date

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