Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Israeli forces targeted homes in southern Gaza's Khan Younis on Friday, killing 38 people, mostly women and children, and injuring many others, the ministry of health said.
In northern Gaza, where Israel is continuing to besiege and target the Jabalia refugee camp for the 21st day, “dozens” of people were killed and others were injured on Thursday evening, the official news agency Wafa said.
Local sources said more than 150 people, including women and children, were among the casualties when Israeli forces bombed at least 10 houses in Jabalia's Al Hawja area. Ambulances and rescue crews could not reach victims due to the continuing Israeli bombardment.
Israeli forces also stormed one of northern Gaza's last remaining hospitals on Friday. Witnesses said staff and patients, including children, at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia were told to leave.
The WHO said it had lost contact with medical staff at Kamal Adwan.
"Since this morning's reports of a raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, we have lost touch with the personnel there," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
"This development is deeply disturbing, given the number of patients being served and people sheltering there."
Israel said its troops are operating "in the heart" of Jabalia refugee camp, south of Beit Lahia, near the hospital after receiving intelligence about "terrorists".
Later on Friday, Israel's army detained "hundreds" of staff, patients and displaced people sheltering inside the hospital, the ministry said.
"Food, medicines and medical supplies necessary to save the lives of the wounded and patients in the hospital have not been supplied or provided," at Kamal Adwan hospital, the ministry of health said in a statement. "The situation inside the hospital is catastrophic in every sense of the word."
The raid came a day after Israeli soldiers surrounded the hospital and opened fire, Wafa reported. At least 15 patients need surgery that cannot be performed because supplies have run out.
The director of Kamal Adwan hospital, Dr Hossam Abu Safiyeh, had previously warned that it would become a “mass grave” if help did not immediately arrive. He said 150 injured people were being treated there, including 14 children in intensive care and the neonatal department.
Tens of thousands of people in northern Gaza have been cut off from food and water. Only 16 out of the entire strip's 39 hospitals remain partially functioning, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.
On Friday evening, a further 12 Palestinians were killed by Israeli drone strikes while waiting in line to receive aid in western Gaza City, Gaza's civil defence agency said.
The drones struck near the Shati refugee camp in western Gaza City, said agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal.
"Civil defence teams retrieved 12 martyrs and several injured individuals after Israeli drone strikes targeted a group of citizens and a vehicle waiting for aid," agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said of the attack near the Shati refugee camp.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
A witness to the strike, Mustafa Abu Aita, said a crowd had been waiting for aid to arrive.
"They struck a small white bus with a missile, and another missile hit the people standing on the road, resulting in martyrs and injuries," Mr Aita told AFP.
"People fled the area, and ambulances came to transport the martyrs and the injured."
Ceasefire talks
An Israeli delegation is expected to travel to Doha on Sunday, headed by Mossad chief David Barnea who will meet CIA director William Burns and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Reuters reported.
Sources told The National that a new proposal will be presented to Hamas that includes an extendable truce, the release of a small batch of the remaining 100 hostages being held by the group, and the resumption of aid to the enclave. Just over one day's worth of supplies has entered Gaza since the beginning of the month.
The negotiations are set to take place just over a week after Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in southern Gaza. Hamas insists on Israel's full withdrawal from the strip, a sticking point that Israel refuses to agree to.
Israel's Hostage and Missing Families Forum welcomed the talks but demanded that all the hostages are returned in a single phase.
“For over a year, 101 hostages have been held captive by Hamas in Gaza and are all currently under severe physical and mental risk,” the forum said in a statement on Thursday.
“As we approach nearly a year since the last hostage release deal, other than three rescue operations, we have only received hostages in body bags. A negotiated deal is the only way to bring all hostages home.”
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
THE SPECS
Range Rover Sport Autobiography Dynamic
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 518bhp
Torque: 625Nm
Speed: 0-100kmh 5.3 seconds
Price: Dh633,435
On sale: now
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
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
'The Sky is Everywhere'
Director:Josephine Decker
Stars:Grace Kaufman, Pico Alexander, Jacques Colimon
Rating:2/5
Fixtures and results:
Wed, Aug 29:
- Malaysia bt Hong Kong by 3 wickets
- Oman bt Nepal by 7 wickets
- UAE bt Singapore by 215 runs
Thu, Aug 30: UAE v Nepal; Hong Kong v Singapore; Malaysia v Oman
Sat, Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong; Oman v Singapore; Malaysia v Nepal
Sun, Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman; Malaysia v UAE; Nepal v Singapore
Tue, Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore; UAE v Oman; Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu, Sep 6: Final
Company%20Profile
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
