JERUSALEM // Israeli officials have announced plans to build an artificial island that would regulate trade through the Gaza Strip, but some Palestinians have rejected the idea as "pure fantasy".
Israel's transportation minister, Yisrael Katz, unveiled the plan on Wednesday, billing it as a way to give Palestinians access to their air and seaports. Perhaps more important, it would lessen Israel's burden of imposing its blockade on Gaza while providing reassurance that the territory's Hamas rulers would still be denied weapons imports.
Mr Katz's spokesman, Ilan Leizerovich, said Israel expects the international community to finance the island's estimated construction cost of between US$5 billion and $10bn (Dh18.3bn to Dh36.7bn).
Once finished, Mr Leizerovich said, an international body such as Nato would take control of the facility and leave operational oversight to the Palestinian Authority (PA), which rules the West Bank.
He said that while the government had yet to receive a formal response from PA officials, Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, its defence minister, Ehud Barack, and parliamentarians have already given the project their approval.
"Very soon this plan will be offered to vote in the government," Mr Leizerovich said.
Yet PA leaders appeared surprised by Wednesday's announcement, with one unnamed official even calling it "pure fantasy".
Ghassan Khatib, a PA spokesman, flatly opposed the idea, criticising it as an attempt "to divert the attention of the international public opinion from the real causes of the suffering of the people of Gaza".
"We think if Israel were serious in helping the Palestinians of Gaza, they should first lift the blockade, and second, allow the reintegration of the West Bank and Gaza and the emergence of a Palestinian state," he said.
He added that "anything short of ending occupation and allowing for a two-state solution is not going to be useful".
Observers said it is difficult to envision the project's viability without the support of Palestinian officials, including Hamas, which violently took control of Gaza from PA forces in 2007.
Mr Katz told Army Radio on Wednesday that the "Israeli military would continue the naval blockade", even if in "a more localised way". It would open a "political horizon on the key question of Gaza, without having to rely on Hamas".
An unnamed Hamas spokesman also rejected the idea, telling Reuters on Wednesday that it amounted to little more than "a Zionist effort to internationalise" the blockade.
Mr Netanyahu appears to be putting forward a number of similar ideas in order to avoid having to confront the currently deadlocked peace talks and improve his image abroad away from that of an intransigent leader when it comes to the Palestinian issue.
Earlier this month, officials from his office leaked plans for reaching a final agreement with Palestinians by way of interim arrangements. Palestinian leaders immediately rejected the idea.
Palestinian and Israeli officials have been unable to restart their most recent attempt at peace negotiations, which collapsed in September when Israel refused to extend a partial freeze on settlement construction. The country's right-wing government has come under mounting international criticism for its pro-settler policies and grown alarmed of recent Palestinian diplomatic efforts aimed at garnering support for an independent state.
Mr Leizerovich said Israeli officials had been developing the artificial island plan in earnest for roughly 18 months. They announced it to the media on Wednesday before informing their counterparts in the PA. "We wanted to feel the response from the world first because everything is ready. The plan is finished," he said.
The island, projected to be finished in six to 10 years, is planned to host resort hotels and a marina in addition to the port facilities and a desalination plant. It would be located 4.5 kilometres off the Gazan coast, and a bridge would connect it to the mainland.
Mr Leizerovich estimated that its construction would create 100,000 jobs, which would be offered to Palestinian labourers.
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The Transfiguration
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School counsellors on mental well-being
Schools counsellors in Abu Dhabi have put a number of provisions in place to help support pupils returning to the classroom next week.
Many children will resume in-person lessons for the first time in 10 months and parents previously raised concerns about the long-term effects of distance learning.
Schools leaders and counsellors said extra support will be offered to anyone that needs it. Additionally, heads of years will be on hand to offer advice or coping mechanisms to ease any concerns.
“Anxiety this time round has really spiralled, more so than from the first lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic,” said Priya Mitchell, counsellor at The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi.
“Some have got used to being at home don’t want to go back, while others are desperate to get back.
“We have seen an increase in depressive symptoms, especially with older pupils, and self-harm is starting younger.
“It is worrying and has taught us how important it is that we prioritise mental well-being.”
Ms Mitchell said she was liaising more with heads of year so they can support and offer advice to pupils if the demand is there.
The school will also carry out mental well-being checks so they can pick up on any behavioural patterns and put interventions in place to help pupils.
At Raha International School, the well-being team has provided parents with assessment surveys to see how they can support students at home to transition back to school.
“They have created a Well-being Resource Bank that parents have access to on information on various domains of mental health for students and families,” a team member said.
“Our pastoral team have been working with students to help ease the transition and reduce anxiety that [pupils] may experience after some have been nearly a year off campus.
"Special secondary tutorial classes have also focused on preparing students for their return; going over new guidelines, expectations and daily schedules.”
Result
Arsenal 4
Monreal (51'), Ramsey (82'), Lacazette 85', 89')
West Ham United 1
Arnautovic (64')
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
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Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
German plea
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the German parliament that. Russia had erected a new wall across Europe.
"It's not a Berlin Wall -- it is a Wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this Wall is growing bigger with every bomb" dropped on Ukraine, Zelenskyy told MPs.
Mr Zelenskyy was applauded by MPs in the Bundestag as he addressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz directly.
"Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this Wall," he said, evoking US President Ronald Reagan's 1987 appeal to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.
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