Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
A renewed effort by mediators the US, Qatar and Egypt to broker a Gaza ceasefire is stalling over stringent Israeli conditions and Hamas's reluctance to risk weakening its bargaining power by releasing too many hostages too quickly, sources told The National on Sunday.
They spoke following a flurry of diplomatic activity in the Middle East by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and White House senior adviser Brett McGurk. Of the three, Mr McGurk remains in the region to try to bridge the gap between Hamas and Israel.
The intensified effort by the US, Egypt and Qatar comes as President Joe Biden's time in the White House is drawing to a close, with president-elect Donald Trump taking office next month. Mr Trump has spoken of “hell to pay” if the hostages held by Hamas are not freed before his inauguration.
Mr Sullivan has, over the weekend, expressed cautious optimism that conditions were ripe for halting the 14-month-old Gaza war before the Biden administration's end on January 20.
“I wouldn’t be here now if I didn’t think this thing was just waiting until after January 20,” said Mr Sullivan, who returned to Washington on Saturday.
The US, Qatar and Egypt have for a year now been trying to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza along with a swap of Israeli and other hostages held by Hamas for Palestinians detained in Israel on security-related charges. The only truce they successfully brokered lasted one week in November 2023 and led to the release by Hamas of about 100 hostages.
The sources said Israel was insisting now that Hamas releases many more hostages than the group is offering during the initial truce provided for in the latest proposals. It also wants them to include US citizens and female soldiers. Hamas, according to the sources, is prepared to free about a dozen, with their release staggered at the rate of one every 48 hours to ensure Israel is honouring its end of the deal.
Another new condition set by Israel is that it wants all Palestinians freed from its prisons under the deal to leave Palestinian territories and live in exile abroad, they said. It has also attached a new condition to its offer of safe passage from Gaza and into exile of Hamas leaders, field commanders and their families. Israel, said the sources, now wants to retain the final say on who qualifies to benefit from the offer, which Hamas has previously rejected.
The proposals currently under discussion provide for a brief truce during which a limited exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners would take place along with the dispatch of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, where the war has killed nearly 45,000 and injured twice that number, according to Gaza government figures.
They also provide for a gradual withdrawal from a narrow strip of land that runs the length of Egypt's border with Gaza on the Palestinian side, including the Rafah crossing, the territory's only gate to the outside world that is not controlled by Israel.
Israel captured the area in May, drawing an angry response from Egypt, which insists that the move broke the two countries' 1979 peace treaty and subsequent accords. Egypt also closed its side of the Rafah border to protest against Israel's move, significantly reducing the amount of relief aid sent to Gaza.
The sources said Egypt was currently trying to persuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to issue a decree creating an independent committee of non-partisan technocrats to run the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, but its pleas were falling on deaf ears.
Egypt this month brokered an agreement in principle between Hamas and Fatah, the dominant faction in Mr Abbas' Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, to create the committee, but a senior Hamas leader later rejected the deal, saying the proposed committee would enshrine divisions among Palestinians.
Israel itself has been ambivalent about the creation of the committee while insisting on retaining the right to send its military back to the area after its withdrawal to deal with possible threats to its security, said the sources.
Israel argues that the Egypt border must be closely monitored to halt the supply of weapons and dual use material to Hamas through underground tunnels. Egypt denies the existence of such tunnels, insisting it destroyed them about 10 years ago.
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Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
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.”
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
