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Palestinian cancer patients who were flown to the UAE for medical treatment have said they would have died had they stayed in the Gaza Strip.
Many of the patients, who have advanced stages of cancer, have praised the UAE for providing them with treatment, which was halted abruptly in Gaza due to the war in the enclave.
Awni Saleh, 63, has end-stage lung cancer. He arrived in the UAE on Saturday with his wife and was admitted to the ICU with breathing problems.
I would have died had I remained in Gaza
Awni Qaddur Saleh,
63
It is the first time he has been able to speak in months.
“I would have died had I remained in Gaza,” the father-of-eight tells The National.
“There was no food, no water and I couldn't go to the hospital. I was so sick.
“I am so grateful to the UAE government and President Sheikh Mohamed, I am now getting better.”
Mr Saleh is one of many cancer patients who were transported from Al Arish Airport in Egypt to the UAE for medical treatment, as part of Operation Gallant Knight 3 to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Sheikh Mohamed last month directed that 1,000 Palestinian children and 1,000 cancer patients be brought to the UAE for treatment.
The injured will be transported from Gaza and accompanied by their families.
Mr Saleh's wife Fatiyeh Hadi, 62, says she is grateful to the UAE for looking after her husband.
“Just look at the TV and you will see how difficult the situation is,” says Ms Hadi.
“The UAE and the government have saved our lives – particularly cancer patients were treatment is critical and a delay could make the cancer progress.
“They have destroyed all the hospitals and the hospital my husband was getting treated in. He wasn't speaking or eating and constantly had a high fever.
“Seeing him now and a few months ago is like the difference between life and death.”
The couple's home was also destroyed in Israeli air strikes in northern Gaza.
“We had to crawl out from under the rubble and move to the south. Palestine is full of displaced citizens now,” says Mr Saleh.
Huwaida Abo Mostafa is another patient receiving treatment in the UAE.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer in September and was on her third dose of chemotherapy at the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital before it ran out of medicine and was later attacked.
The 38-year-old and her husband, Mohammed Mostafa, said they received a text confirming that they would be transported to the UAE for treatment and to head to the Rafah border.
The couple said the journey took them 26 hours.
“It was very difficult to get across the border – there were so many checkpoints and procedures,” Ms Abo Mostafa told The National.
“It still feels like a dream that I am here.”
Mr Mostafa said he had to walk 40km to get fresh water for his wife in Gaza.
“There were no fruits, no rice, no salt or sugar. Everyone was starving,” he said.
The couple's six children, the youngest a one-year-old, are staying with their in-laws in Gaza while they are in the UAE.
Hanan Abo Sumra, 60, was also receiving treatment at the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital in Gaza.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer in July and was on her second dose of chemotherapy when the war broke out.
Ms Sumra arrived in the UAE with her husband Jameel, 67, last month to continue her treatment.
“I spoke to my children today and told them that I was going to be OK,” the mother-of-three said.
“I told them that the UAE was taking care of me and I was in safe hands.”
Abdullah Al Najjar, 65, is a carpenter and fisherman, trades he picked up from his father and grandparents.
He has 13 children including seven girls, and six boys who fish who are also fishermen.
While living in Gaza, he built boats which he used to go fishing. But when the war began, Israeli forces burnt his vessels and the sea became off-limits.
Mr Al Najjar arrived in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago to receive urgent medical treatment for colon cancer and needed further chemotherapy after his surgery in June.
“My family is fine but life is so hard. Every minute we expect an air raid. There is no water and food. After they burnt our ships, they also destroyed our livelihood,” he told The National.
“Being here in the UAE is a blessing and we are indebted to the government and the leadership for welcoming us.”
Mr Al Najjar said medical staff in the UAE have looked after him well, with nurses bringing him everything he needs including water, food and painkillers.
“God protect Gaza and the UAE,” he said.
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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.”
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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
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