Britain on Monday condemned Israel’s new aid delivery system in Gaza as “inhumane,” referencing reports of hundreds of Palestinians killed while attempting to access food and humanitarian supplies.
“The suffering in Gaza is appalling and cannot continue. Israel's aid delivery measures are inhumane,” said Fergus Eckersley, the UK’s political co-ordinator to the United Nations. “The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's operations, which are supposed to be saving lives, are themselves leading to mass casualties. Starving people who are desperate to feed their families are told food awaits them, but over 500 have reportedly been killed trying to access it.”
Many Gazans said they have to walk for hours to reach the four appointed sites by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), meaning they must start travelling well before dawn if they are to stand any chance of receiving food.
The Israeli military acknowledged on Monday that Palestinian civilians were harmed at aid distribution centres in Gaza, saying that instructions had been issued to its forces following “lessons learnt”. Previously, the military has said it fired warning shots at people who move suspiciously or got too close to troops, including while they were collecting aid.
Since June 17, at least 580 Palestinians have been killed either trying to reach GHF distribution points or waiting for other aid convoys, Khaled Khiari, assistant secretary general for the Middle East, told Council members. Mr Khiari also said that the level of suffering and brutality in Gaza is “unbearable”, and the continued collective punishment of the Palestinian people is “unjustifiable”.
“Civilians are being killed while simply trying to receive aid amid life-threatening famine. They are forced to flee time and again although no place in Gaza, as we know, is safe for civilians,” said Slovenia’s UN envoy Samuel Zbogar. The World Food Programme reported that one in five people IN Gaza faces catastrophic levels of hunger, and more than 90,000 women and children urgently require treatment.
The Palestinian deputy envoy to the UN, Majed Bamya, said to Council members: “What if these people that you saw on your TVs every night and every day were Israelis starving, trying to get aid? Gaza was the most densely populated area on earth, with over two million people living in the Gaza Strip. They now are squeezed on 16 per cent of that area to render them more desperate, to force them to leave their land.”
Israel has pushed for the GHF to replace the current UN-co-ordinated aid system, accusing Hamas of diverting assistance to sustain its rule. The US has backed these claims, but the world body says there has been no systematic aid theft.
Israel’s ambassador Danny Danon said the GHF has offered the United Nations full data-sharing, joint logistics and transparent monitoring. “What has the response been from the Secretary General [Antonio Guterres] and other officials?” Mr Danon asked. “We heard it today: indifference, defamation and obstruction.”
In a letter sent last week to Mr Guterres, the head of the GHF Johnnie Moore urged the world body to engage “immediately and directly” with the organisation, says it had a proven ability to distribute aid effectively. When asked by The National whether the UN had responded, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: “We're in the process of responding, but our public message and our private message is the same.”
Mr Dujarric confirmed that senior UN officials had met GHF representatives in Israel, adding: “We were invited in Israel to hear from the GHF and we went, because we don't refuse these kinds of meetings.”
However, he reiterated concerns over safety: “Our concerns continue. I think we've all seen what is happening again. We're not saying that GHF should not operate. What we're saying is that whether it's GHF or others, they need to operate in ways that are safe. And I think everyone can see that currently it's not safe. There's no need to reinvent the wheel.”
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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'Laal Kaptaan'
Director: Navdeep Singh
Stars: Saif Ali Khan, Manav Vij, Deepak Dobriyal, Zoya Hussain
Rating: 2/5
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The biog
Favourite book: You Are the Placebo – Making your mind matter, by Dr Joe Dispenza
Hobby: Running and watching Welsh rugby
Travel destination: Cyprus in the summer
Life goals: To be an aspirational and passionate University educator, enjoy life, be healthy and be the best dad possible.
Florida: The critical Sunshine State
Though mostly conservative, Florida is usually always “close” in presidential elections. In most elections, the candidate that wins the Sunshine State almost always wins the election, as evidenced in 2016 when Trump took Florida, a state which has not had a democratic governor since 1991.
Joe Biden’s campaign has spent $100 million there to turn things around, understandable given the state’s crucial 29 electoral votes.
In 2016, Mr Trump’s democratic rival Hillary Clinton paid frequent visits to Florida though analysts concluded that she failed to appeal towards middle-class voters, whom Barack Obama won over in the previous election.
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.”
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
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