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.
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4 — Alain Prost (1985, ’86, ’89, ’93)
4 — Sebastian Vettel (2010, ’11, ’12, ’13)
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In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites
The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.
It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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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.”
