An aide to Donald Trump was confronted with photos of starving children in Gaza during a meeting with Tunisia's President Kais Saied.
Mr Saied told US envoy Massad Boulos, who is also the father-in-law of the US President's daughter Tiffany Trump, that “it is time for humanity to wake up and put an end to these crimes against the Palestinian people”.
“I believe you know these images well,” Mr Saied was seen telling the envoy in footage released by the Tunisian presidency. He described one of the photos as showing “a child crying, eating sand in occupied Palestine”.
Mr Boulos stood silently, occasionally nodding, as Mr Saied called events in Gaza “a crime against all of humanity” and “absolutely unacceptable”.
Lebanese-born Mr Boulos is a senior adviser to Mr Trump on Arab, Middle East and African affairs. His son, Michael Boulos, married Tiffany Trump in 2022.
The US is Israel's main political and military backer and has vetoed UN resolutions calling for an end to the war in Gaza. However, Mr Trump has shown signs of thinning patience with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the toll of the 21-month war mounts.
Some of Israel's usual allies, including Britain and France, issued stark criticism this week of what they called the “drip feeding of aid”, as starvation takes hold in Gaza. The head of its largest hospital said on Tuesday that 21 children had died from malnutrition and starvation in the previous three days.
More than 100 aid organisations warned on Wednesday that “mass starvation” was spreading across Gaza and that their own colleagues were suffering acutely from the shortages. Israel says some humanitarian supplies are being allowed into Gaza and accuses Hamas of stealing aid.
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How to invest in gold
Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.
A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.
Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”
Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”
Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”
By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.
You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.
You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.
