Palestinians injured by Israeli fire at a food aid distribution point are treated at Al Awda Hospital in Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp. AFP
Palestinians injured by Israeli fire at a food aid distribution point are treated at Al Awda Hospital in Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp. AFP
Palestinians injured by Israeli fire at a food aid distribution point are treated at Al Awda Hospital in Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp. AFP
Palestinians injured by Israeli fire at a food aid distribution point are treated at Al Awda Hospital in Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp. AFP

Hungry Gazans killed while waiting for food as NGOs warn US-Israel aid group of war crime complicity


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Thirty-two people were killed in Gaza on Tuesday morning while waiting for aid, Palestinian media reported, the latest in a series of deaths in recent weeks among homeless and hungry Gazans.

Official news agency Wafa said Israeli forces launched a wave of air attacks across the Gaza city area and on aid distribution points south of Wadi Gaza in the centre of the territory.

North of Rafah, three people were shot dead and others were injured when Israeli troops shot at groups queuing for supplies, Wafa said, citing medical sources.

Across Gaza on Tuesday at least 51 Palestinians were killed, it added, as Israel continues its offensive in the enclave.

Ten people were killed in Israeli shelling on a home in the Al Sabra neighbourhood south of Gaza city, Wafa quoted sources at Al Ahli Arab Hospital as saying.

Israeli drones also opened fire to the north-east of Al Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, Wafa said.

More than 500 Palestinians have been killed at aid distribution points by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation since its inception on May 27, including 93 who were killed by Israeli gunfire as they approached UN aid trucks, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Thameen Al Kheetan said in a statement on Tuesday.

He said only a few UN aid trucks have been allowed into Gaza since March 2, 2025.

"Israel’s militarised humanitarian assistance mechanism is in contradiction with international standards on aid distribution. It endangers civilians, and contributes to the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza," he said.

Mr Al Kheetan called preventing people's access to necessary services a "war crime". The foundation was set up after Israel eased a blockade on relief supplies to the territory that lasted more than two months.

Medical agency Doctors Without Borders has sounded the alarm over patterns of what it called "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza.

UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to co-operate with the GHF, suspicious that it has been created to advance Israeli military objectives and throw Gazans off their land.

Israeli troops have been accused of opening fire on Palestinians near the foundation's sites. It has denied responsibility for deaths near its distribution points, making statements at odds with witnesses and the Gaza authorities have said.

On Monday, 15 legal and human rights organisations issued an open letter calling on the GHF to end its work, warning those involved with its operations that they risk charges of complicity in war crimes as it was not in line with humanitarian principles and international law.

Signatories to the letter included the International Federation for Human Rights, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, the American Centre for Constitutional Rights and the International Commission of Jurists.

"Individuals and corporate entities involved in the planning, financing, or execution of the GHF scheme may incur criminal liability – including under universal jurisdiction statutes – for aiding and abetting war crimes such as the forcible displacement of civilians, starvation as a method of warfare and denial of humanitarian access," the letter said.

The 15 said the GHF's work was "dehumanising, repeatedly deadly and contributes to the forced displacement of the very population it purports to help".

They said GHF operations lack transparency and accountability, and that its work forces Palestinians to walk long distances through militarised zones to obtain food, creating a risk of forced displacement.

"This new model of privatised, militarised aid distribution constitutes a radical and dangerous shift away from established international humanitarian relief operations," they said.

The groups urged the GHF and all who have been supporting its work "to cease their operations".

"Failure to do so may expose these organisations ... to further risk of criminal and civil liability for aiding and abetting or otherwise being complicit in crimes under international law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide in violation of international law," the letter said.

Gaza’s health ministry said on Tuesday that hospitals had received 79 bodies and 289 injured over the past 24 hours, including 49 people killed and 197 injured while collecting aid.

The overall Palestinian toll from the war rose to 56,077 dead and 131,848 wounded, it said, including 516 deaths and 3,799 injuries related to aid distribution.

The war began on October 7, 2023 when Hamas and other militant groups from Gaza killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 hostage in raids on southern Israel.

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.

Who's who in Yemen conflict

Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government

Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council

Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south

Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

PROFILE

Name: Enhance Fitness 

Year started: 2018 

Based: UAE 

Employees: 200 

Amount raised: $3m 

Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors 

The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright

Landfill in numbers

• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane

• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming

• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi

• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year

• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away

• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition

Results

Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent

Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent

Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent

What drives subscription retailing?

Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.

The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.

The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.

The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.

UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.

That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.

Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.

Key developments

All times UTC 4

What is graphene?

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.

It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.

Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.

By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.

At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.

It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.

But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.

In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties. 

 

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

'Ashkal'
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Polarised public

31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views

19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views

19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all

Source: YouGov

Dunki
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Five expert hiking tips
    Always check the weather forecast before setting off Make sure you have plenty of water Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon Wear appropriate clothing and footwear Take your litter home with you
Updated: June 24, 2025, 12:05 PM