As the Israel-Gaza war and its devastating impacts intensify, threaten regional spill-over, and widen global discord, world leaders including the US President rush to the region. As news broke on Tuesday night of a hospital in Gaza being hit with a missile, killing hundreds of civilians, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “horrified”, noting that “hospitals and medical personnel are protected under international humanitarian law”.
Mr Guterres is right, of course, but his remarks will have many questioning what the organs responsible for promulgating international humanitarian law – chiefly the UN – can do to contain the spiral of violence, if anything. After all, the UN has itself become a target, intentionally or not, with nearly a dozen UN staff killed in an Israeli air strike last week, along with 30 pupils at UN-run schools.
So where is the UN and what is its role?
The UN has been central to the Palestine-Israel story since its own formation in 1945. Britain, exhausted by the Second World War, wanted to be rid of its Palestinian mandate and referred the issue to the UN in April 1947. Its Special Commission recommended partition into Jewish and Arab states, and the UN General Assembly duly obliged in November 1947 through Resolution 181. But it was not a universally popular verdict, with 33 member states favouring and 23 against or abstaining.
By today’s glacial pace of UN movement, creating and dividing a new state and its peoples in less than a year was indecent haste. That fateful decision spawned decades of strife that bedevils the UN’s Middle East role to the present day.
After the 1948 war, the UN created its first-ever mediation function. But within months the pioneering UN mediator Folke Bernadotte was assassinated by Zionists. Despite this unpropitious beginning, the persistent UN appointed Ralphe Bunche, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for securing the 1949 armistice between Israel and Egypt, Lebanon and Syria.
A long line of UN envoys followed, the latest being the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. He is backed by many General Assembly and Security Council resolutions reiterating the recognition of Palestinian rights and a two-state solution. However, the UN has lacked implementation capacity. Progress such as the 1970s Camp David Accords and 1990s Oslo Accords was due to influential member states.
It is in mitigating human suffering that the UN comes into its own
But those got undone in previous cycles of Palestinian violence and Israeli repression. Unable to break through them, UN peacemaking became moribund. That is not helped today by a Security Council paralysed by geopolitics and member states polarised between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine camps. The latest Security Council resolution with the modest objective to pause fighting and give Gaza civilians a breather foundered for this reason.
Consequently, the Secretary General cannot exercise his peacemaking functions and is reduced to making general pleas to follow international humanitarian law during hostilities. That is easier said than done when Gaza is so densely populated.
Current peacemaking is not coming from the UN, but from states that carry clout with the warring parties, such as Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the US. But their differences mean the necessary compromises will take time.
But the UN could be indispensable when the war ends by legitimising any agreements, rather like the officiant at a wedding, and supervising the parties to keep their promises. It is well-practised in doing that in many places as far apart as Congo and Cambodia.
It was also in the Middle East that the UN created its first-ever peacekeeping mission in 1949 with the UN Truce Supervision Organisation.
That is still there 75 years later, along with sister missions, the UN Disengagement Observer Force created in 1974 for the Golan between Israel and Syria, and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon created in 1978 with a monitoring role on the Lebanon/Israel border.
The three missions have a biennial budget of $612 million and deploy 12,000 personnel.
With no enforcement power, they observe and go between the belligerents during numerous flare-ups. Perhaps they have put out small fires here and there. But they have not deterred any major wars while suffering abuse and aggression from all sides: 438 peacekeepers have been killed over the years.
Their current impotence is shown in Israel-Hezbollah clashes across the Lebanon border and Israeli bombing of Syrian airports. But closing down the missions is not on the cards because it would send perverse signals to the belligerents while removing crucial international eyes and ears on the ground.
UN peacekeepers are less popular globally, as their troubled withdrawals from the Sahel indicate. Nevertheless, could they play a useful postwar role? Possibly, because some neutral security monitoring mechanism will be useful in Gaza. But this depends on trust from all sides. That cannot be assumed.
It is axiomatic to eventual peacebuilding that justice is dispensed for wrongs done during fighting, and human rights grievances tackled.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has field presences in Israel and Palestine, including Gaza. The Human Rights Council has received numerous reports on the grave situation and passed many resolutions of condemnation and demands for redress. But with some of its own members abusing human rights and the council having no executive authority, its pronouncements have little practical value.
The International Court of Justice is the UN’s principal judicial organ, to which the General Assembly referred the question of legality of Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands in a highly divided vote in 2022. The Court is in no hurry to rule and, anyway, its judgements are only advisories, including its earlier ruling on the illegality of the walls built by Israel to contain Palestinians.
The International Criminal Court is another mechanism invoked by Palestine, which is a signatory to the Rome Statutes while Israel is not. In 2019, the ICC Prosecutor ruled that there was reasonable basis to believe that war crimes were committed by Israeli forces and Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank, justifying further investigations. ICC tardiness to do that has been contrasted with its speed in the much later case of Russian aggression on Ukraine.
In short, the UN’s human rights and judicial mechanisms are unlikely to be able to make a meaningful difference to the evolution of the current crisis. The perverse consequence of delayed accountability is to normalise no-holds-barred war-making, as just seen with the atrocious bombing of a Gaza hospital.
That human suffering is at the centre of Palestine’s long and tragic history is incontestable. Mitigating that is where the UN comes into its own. The Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) caters for 5.9 million people in the region including two thirds of Gazans. UNRWA is the de facto provider of services that elsewhere a government would organise, such as education, health care and social protection.
UNRWA has done this since 1949, developing Palestinian skills and capacities, and bringing a modicum of hope. Its Gaza operations with its 13,000 – mostly local – staff have pivoted overnight towards emergency relief. Its 288 schools have been sheltering the displaced from air strikes.
UNRWA is joined by 22 other UN agencies in Palestine, and key are the World Food Programme, World Health Organisation, and Unicef providing life-saving food and healthcare.
Several aid workers have been killed and the courage of those who have survived will be tested further in coming days as they accompany the fleeing population with or without humanitarian corridors and safe zones.
Much of Gaza is likely to be flattened but will need rebuilding if people are to return – or else the evacuations are tantamount to ethnic cleansing. That must not happen, and it is UN agencies that will be central to rebuilding.
The UN’s indispensable humanitarian and recovery role is not contested. What about its underplayed political function? This is not perfect, by any means. But when toxic rivalries among global and regional powers feed the Palestine-Israel dispute, the peace support function of the UN may be the missing piece of the fiendishly complex jigsaw that is the Middle East crisis.
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
Winners
Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)
Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)
Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)
Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers Henderson, Johnstone, Pickford, Ramsdale
Defenders Alexander-Arnold, Chilwell, Coady, Godfrey, James, Maguire, Mings, Shaw, Stones, Trippier, Walker, White
Midfielders Bellingham, Henderson, Lingard, Mount, Phillips, Rice, Ward-Prowse
Forwards Calvert-Lewin, Foden, Grealish, Greenwood, Kane, Rashford, Saka, Sancho, Sterling, Watkins
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Norway v Spain, Saturday, 10.45pm, UAE
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
Types of fraud
Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
* Nada El Sawy
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
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.”
South Africa squad
: Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen (wkt), Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Duanne Olivier, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada.
The Florida Project
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe
Four stars
UAE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani
Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Salem Rashid, Mohammed Al Attas, Alhassan Saleh
Midfielders: Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Majed Hassan, Yahya Nader, Ahmed Barman, Abdullah Hamad, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Harib Abdallah, Mohammed Jumah, Yahya Al Ghassani
Forwards: Fabio De Lima, Caio Canedo, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Notable groups (UAE time)
Jordan Spieth, Si Woo Kim, Henrik Stenson (12.47pm)
Justin Thomas, Justin Rose, Louis Oosthuizen (12.58pm)
Hideki Matsuyama, Brooks Koepka, Tommy Fleetwood (1.09pm)
Sergio Garcia, Jason Day, Zach Johnson (4.04pm)
Rickie Fowler, Paul Casey, Adam Scott (4.26pm)
Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel, Rory McIlroy (5.48pm)
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Explainer: Tanween Design Programme
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
The five pillars of Islam
MATCH INFO
Uefa Nations League
League A, Group 4
Spain v England, 10.45pm (UAE)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
