Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Israel launched its war on the Gaza Strip after a Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. The US has proposed a deal for a 60-day ceasefire to halt the conflict, which Washington says Israel has agreed to. Hamas is studying the terms of the deal.
Israel's assaults have killed more than 54,000 Palestinians since the start of the war. But the impact of the devastating conflict has not been limited to the enclave and Israel - it has sent shockwaves across the region, with Israeli forces having fought on several fronts against other Iran-backed groups allied to Hamas.
Here are important moments in the conflict:
October 7, 2023: Hamas fighters infiltrate Israel and carry out an attack that shocks Israeli society. More than 1,200 people, including soldiers, are killed and 240 are kidnapped and taken into Gaza as hostages.
Retaliatory Israeli strikes against the Gaza Strip begin, marking the start of a devastating military campaign.
October 8, 2023: Lebanon's Hezbollah launches rockets towards Israel, saying it has entered the war in support of Palestinians in Gaza, sparking concerns of a new front.
Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq begin launching drones towards Israel on October 17 in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
October 19, 2023: US warships intercept missiles and drones launched towards Israel by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Houthis begin increasing attacks against Israel and on targets claimed to be affiliated to the country in the Red Sea, threatening shipping lanes and global trade.
October 27, 2023: After besieging the Gaza Strip and displacing the vast majority of the population from the north to the south, Israel begins its ground offensive.
November 15, 2023: Israeli forces enter Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest medical centre, laying siege to the building and killing a number of people. Officials and the hospital's director at the time tell The National they prepared a mass grave for 179 people, including babies.
Within weeks, all hospitals in the Gaza Strip will have been attacked.
November 24, 2023: A week-long truce comes into effect and involves the release of 105 hostages, including Thai workers, in exchange for 240 Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons. But the war resumes on December 1, with attacks expanding into southern Gaza.
January 26, 2024: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) orders Israel to prevent genocide in Gaza.
February 29, 2024: At least 120 people are killed and hundreds injured when Israeli forces fire on civilians queuing for aid, in one of the deadliest incidents of the war.
March 7, 2024: Following increasing political pressure over famine in Gaza and the lack of aid, US president at the time, Joe Biden, announces a pier will be set up in the Mediterranean Sea to deliver supplies. Lasting until July, the pier will be dogged by controversy.
April 1, 2024: The Iranian embassy in Damascus is hit by a suspected Israeli strike that kills military officers, including a senior general.
Seven aid workers from the US charity, World Central Kitchen, are killed in a strike Israel calls a "tragic mistake".
April 13, 2024: In its first direct attack on Israel, Iran launches a barrage of drones and missiles in retaliation for the strike on its diplomatic mission in Syria.
May 6, 2024: Hamas says it has accepted a ceasefire proposal but Israel says it has not agreed to the text.
July 20, 2024: Israel begins attacks on Yemen, bombing the port of Hodeidah in response to a Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv.
July 31, 2024: Hamas's political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, is killed while on a visit to Iran to attend the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian. In December, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz acknowledges for the first time that it was behind the killing.
August 1, 2024: The Israeli military says it killed Hamas's military chief, Mohammed Deif, in an air strike on July 13 in Al Mawasi. Hamas does not confirm or deny his death.
August 23, 2024: The World Health Organisation confirms the first case of poliovirus in Gaza in 25 years after a baby is paralysed.
September 27, 2024: Israel escalates its strikes on Lebanon and kills Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in southern Beirut, days after hundreds of sabotaged pagers and walkie-talkies used by the group explode, killing 39 and injuring thousands.
Days later, Israel begins its invasion of Lebanon.
October 1, 2024: Iran fires a barrage of missiles at Israel in response to the killings of Nasrallah and Haniyeh.
October 5, 2024: Israel begins its siege on northern Gaza, focusing on Jabalia refugee camp, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia. The relentless attacks in the area continue until a temporary ceasefire begins, emptying the north of people while infrastructure is razed.
October 16, 2024: Israel kills Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the attack on October 7, 2023.
October 26, 2024: Israeli air strikes hit military targets in Iran in response to the missile attack on October 1.
November 21, 2024: In a landmark ruling, the International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Deif of Hamas, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ruling comes days after a UN Special Committee says Israel's war on Gaza is consistent with the characteristics of genocide.
November 27, 2024: Israel and Hezbollah agree to a ceasefire in Lebanon, where the war has killed more than 4,000 people since October 2023. The fragile truce is breached several times, with both sides blaming each other.
An offensive by rebels in Syria leads to the toppling of Iran-allied president Bashar Al Assad in December, with Israel then conducting numerous strikes on military sites. Israeli troops also enter the UN-patrolled buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights.
January 15, 2025: Negotiators reach a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, brokered by the US, Egypt and Qatar. The truce comes into effect on January 19, on the eve of the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, who warns there will be "hell to pay" in the Middle East if a deal is not reached.
March 2, 2025: Israel imposes a total humanitarian aid blockade to put pressure on Hamas to release its remaining hostages.
March 18, 2025: Israel resumes military operations in Gaza as a six-week temporary ceasefire collapses.
March 21, 2025: Mr Katz says the Israeli military has been instructed to seize more territory as it expands its ground assault in Gaza. It comes as at least five UN staff are injured in an Israeli attack on central Gaza.
April 2, 2025: Israel's aid blockade enters its second month, with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians having little or no access to food and water.
April 16, 2025: Israel says it controls nearly 30 per cent of land in Gaza, which is under operational buffer zones. The government says it does not plan to allow aid to enter besieged enclave.
May 16, 2025: Israel's aid blockade continues and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, says the escalation of attacks in Gaza and blockade of aid "tantamount to ethnic cleansing".
May 18, 2025: No hospital in northern Gaza is operational, health authorities say. Beit Hanoun and Kamal Adwan Hospital have been destroyed and the Indonesian Hospital is under siege by Israeli forces.
The army says a ground offensive, known as Gideon's Chariots, has began in Gaza.
May 19, 2025: Mr Netanyahu says Israel will allow a "basic amount" of aid to enter Gaza. It is reported that only five lorries have entered the enclave.
May 30, 2025: A 60-day ceasefire is proposed by the US. Israel has accepted the terms, but Hamas is reviewing the deal.
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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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Favourite personality from history - Alexander the Great
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Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
Favourite book: Harry Potter
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Poland Statement
All people fleeing from Ukraine before the armed conflict are allowed to enter Poland. Our country shelters every person whose life is in danger - regardless of their nationality.
The dominant group of refugees in Poland are citizens of Ukraine, but among the people checked by the Border Guard are also citizens of the USA, Nigeria, India, Georgia and other countries.
All persons admitted to Poland are verified by the Border Guard. In relation to those who are in doubt, e.g. do not have documents, Border Guard officers apply appropriate checking procedures.
No person who has received refuge in Poland will be sent back to a country torn by war.
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This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
