Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Cindy McCain, the head of the UN World Food Programme, on Sunday denied Israel's claims that Hamas is looting food lorries in Gaza.
Israel and the US have frequently blamed looting by Hamas when justifying the delays in getting food into Gaza. Ms McCain's comments came the same day a four-year-old boy in Gaza died from malnutrition.
Speaking to CBS News, Ms McCain was asked if she had seen any evidence Hamas is stealing the small amounts of food that Israel is now allowing in to Gaza after more than two months of a total blockade.
“No, not at all. Not, in this round,” Ms McCain said. “These people (Gazans) are desperate. They see a World Food Programme truck coming in and they run for it. This doesn't have anything to do with Hamas or any kind of organised crime or anything. This has simply to do with the fact these people are starving to death.”
She said Israel is currently allowing about 100 food lorries into Gaza, whereas before the blockade about 600 were going in daily.
“This is a drop in the bucket as to what's needed right now,” she said. “We have 500,000 people inside of Gaza that are that are extremely food insecure and could be on the verge of famine if we don't help bring them back from that.”
Meanwhile, rescuers in Gaza said 22 people were killed and dozens more wounded in Israeli air strikes on Sunday. It comes after an Israeli strike killed nine children of one couple on Friday in the city of Khan Younis, according to Gaza's civil defence agency.
In recent days, Israel has allowed in a small amount of aid after banning shipments since March 2, but dozens of the aid lorries have been looted as law and order break down and desperation prevails.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned that the entire population of 2.3 million are at risk of famine.
“This is not the first child to die in Gaza as a result of starvation,” said Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence, said of the death of the young boy.
“If food and drink are not allowed to reach the people of the Gaza Strip, we will witness many more deaths.”
The international community must “act to end this suffering”, he added.
Mr Guterres said on Thursday that Gazans were enduring “the cruellest phase” of the war, with the UN's World Food Programme warning that more than 70,000 children face acute levels of malnutrition.
“To avert famine and save lives, we need immediate, unrestricted and safe access to deliver,” the agency said.
A new, US-backed group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is scheduled to begin delivering food into Gaza by the end of the month.
The UN has condemned the organisation as not being neutral and Ms McCain said she did not have a full understanding of its plans.
“A plan has ever been proposed to us. We really don't know what's coming around the bend,” she said.
Israel has intensified its military campaign in pursuit of Hamas in recent days, drawing international criticism over conditions being endured by Gazans.
Mr Basal said on Saturday that the civil defence had retrieved “the bodies of nine child martyrs, some of them charred, from the home of Dr Hamdi Al Najjar and his wife, Dr Alaa Al Najjar, all of whom were their children”.
Mr Al Najjar and another son of the couple, Adam, survived the strike but were seriously wounded, the authorities said. The family were taken to Nasser Hospital.
Civil defence agency video showed rescuers recovering badly burnt remains from the family's wrecked home.
Muneer Alboursh, director general of the Gaza Health Ministry, said on X that the strike took place shortly after Mr Al Najjar returned home from driving his wife, a paediatric specialist, to work at a medical centre.
“This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain,” he said, accusing Israel of “wiping out entire families”.
The Israeli army said it was reviewing reports on the strike. It said it had “struck a number of suspects who were identified operating from a structure” near its troops.
Play-off fixtures
Two-legged ties to be played November 9-11 and November 12-14
- Northern Ireland v Switzerland
- Croatia v Greece
- Denmark v Ireland
- Sweden v Italy
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES
September 30
South Africa v Australia
Argentina v New Zealand
October 7
South Africa v New Zealand
Argentina v Australia
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
