JERUSALEM // Israel threatened yesterday to escalate attacks on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip amid renewed fighting that analysts described as more political manoeuvring than desire for full-scale war.
Israel's military and Gaza-based fighters have traded rockets, mortars and air strikes since Saturday that have killed six Palestinians and injured Israeli soldiers and residents near the coastal enclave.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, said he was "prepared to escalate" military action on Gaza, warning "Israel won't sit by idly in the face of attempts to attack us".
More than 50 rockets had reportedly struck Israel since the military wing of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for a Saturday attack on an Israeli military patrol near the territory's border fence. Israel responded with tank-shelling barrages and air strikes.
A Hamas health ministry official said an unspecified number of those Israeli strikes took out a Palestinian rocket-launching squad, killed six and wounded 30. Israel does not publish statistics on munitions it fires on Palestinians.
Talal Okal, an independent analyst based in Gaza, said neither side wants a repeat of Israel's 2008-2009 war on the territory that killed 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.
Israeli leaders probably want to prove their security credentials ahead of general elections in January, he said. Hamas also wanted to trumpet its resistance credentials, and its leaders increasingly feel more confident in permitting rocket fire at Israel because of backing from Egypt's Islamist government and Qatar's emir.
The flare-up is the latest since a three-day escalation last month, which killed eight Gazans and sent residents of nearby Israeli communities scrambling for cover from Palestinian-fired rockets.
By attacking each other more frequently in recent months, Israel and Hamas have strayed farther from the informal truce both have fitfully observed after Israel's three-week bombardment of Gaza that began in December 2008.
But the Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak, struck a cautious tone in remarks broadcast yesterday on Army Radio, saying the military "has responded severely and is considering further responses".
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, called the escalation "dangerous" and demanded it "stop immediately". He refrained from vowing further attacks.
"Hamas knows that the Israelis can no longer do whatever they want in Gaza, like in 2008, so they [Hamas] are exploiting this to strengthen themselves here," Mr Okal said.
Hamas, too, has begun claiming more such attacks on the Israeli side of the concrete perimeter fence separating it from Gaza, journalists Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff wrote in Israel's Haaretz newspaper yesterday.
The Islamist group's armed wing claimed responsibility for detonating explosives inside a tunnel on Thursday that injured an Israeli soldier.
"Until recently Hamas had focused its tactical efforts on the 'perimeter', an area a few hundred metres wide on the western, Palestinian side of the border fence that [Israel's military] occasionally enters in search of explosive devices," they wrote.
Rarely claiming responsibility for attacks in recent years, Hamas has usually restrained armed factions in Gaza from firing rockets at Israel.
hnaylor@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Bloomberg News
RESULT
Huddersfield Town 2 Manchester United 1
Huddersfield: Mooy (28'), Depoitre (33')
Manchester United: Rashford (78')
Man of the Match: Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town)
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Third-place play-off: New Zealand v Wales, Friday, 1pm
Results
2pm: Al Sahel Contracting Company – Maiden (PA) Dh50,000 (Dirt) 1,200m; Winner: AF Mutakafel, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
2.30pm: Dubai Real Estate Centre – Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: El Baareq, Antonio Fresu, Rashed Bouresly
3pm: Shadwell – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,950m; Winner: Lost Eden, Andrea Atzeni, Doug Watson
3.30pm: Keeneland – Handicap (TB) Dh84,000 (D) 1,000m; Winner: Alkaraama, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi
4pm: Keeneland – Handicap (TB) Dh76,000 (D) 1,800m; Winner: Lady Snazz, Saif Al Balushi, Bhupat Seemar
4.30pm: Hive – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
5pm: Dubai Real Estate Centre – (TB) Handicap Dh64,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Lahmoom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,200m
Winner: Shafaf, Sam Hitchcott (jockey), Ahmed Al Mehairbi (trainer)
5,30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,200m
Winner: Noof KB, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: The President’s Cup Listed (TB) Dh380,000 1,400m
Winner: Taamol, Jim Crowley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
6.30pm: The President’s Cup Group One (PA) Dh2,500,000 2,200m
Winner: Rmmas, Tadhg O’Shea, Jean de Roualle
7pm: Arabian Triple Crown Listed (PA) Dh230,000 1,600m
Winner: Ihtesham, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: AF Mekhbat, Antonio Fresu, Ernst Oertel
MATCH INFO
Burnley 1 (Brady 89')
Manchester City 4 (Jesus 24', 50', Rodri 68', Mahrez 87')
RESULTS
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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
What is dialysis?
Dialysis is a way of cleaning your blood when your kidneys fail and can no longer do the job.
It gets rid of your body's wastes, extra salt and water, and helps to control your blood pressure. The main cause of kidney failure is diabetes and hypertension.
There are two kinds of dialysis — haemodialysis and peritoneal.
In haemodialysis, blood is pumped out of your body to an artificial kidney machine that filter your blood and returns it to your body by tubes.
In peritoneal dialysis, the inside lining of your own belly acts as a natural filter. Wastes are taken out by means of a cleansing fluid which is washed in and out of your belly in cycles.
It isn’t an option for everyone but if eligible, can be done at home by the patient or caregiver. This, as opposed to home haemodialysis, is covered by insurance in the UAE.
