Citizens with foreign passports wait to travel through the Rafah crossing after the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war. Getty Images
Citizens with foreign passports wait to travel through the Rafah crossing after the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war. Getty Images
Citizens with foreign passports wait to travel through the Rafah crossing after the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war. Getty Images
Citizens with foreign passports wait to travel through the Rafah crossing after the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war. Getty Images

Britain under fire over failure to secure exit for citizens in Gaza


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Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza

Britain's diplomatic efforts to get its citizens out of Gaza and into neighbouring Egypt were floundering on Thursday amid reports that none of them appeared to be on the latest list of foreign passport holders allowed to leave.

Only two British aid workers have appeared on the list to allow them to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing so far, in contrast to the 400 US citizens and dozens of Europeans on it.

There are now mounting calls from MPs demanding answers on behalf of their constituents.

Labour frontbencher Jess Phillips said Britons were not getting out quickly enough and believes the government's diplomatic efforts did not appear to be having "much sway".

“There doesn’t seem to be much movement in getting British people out of Gaza,” she told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme, as she took aim at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s diplomatic efforts.

“What worries me and what worries my constituent who is sat at home waiting for his 16 family members, one of whom is four months old, is that we’re not seeing any British names put on to the list of those who are crossing.”

Her Labour colleague Afzal Khan said he had found the same and was struggling to receive information on the matter from the Foreign Office.

"This matches what my constituent has told me this morning: he thought there were no British nationals on the list at Rafah border crossing – and no helpful information from the Foreign Office," Mr Khan said.

The UK’s Foreign Office has submitted a list of names to Israeli and Egyptian authorities who are subsequently monitoring those allowed to leave.

Israel is understood to have examined the list of foreign citizens to link to intelligence on any affiliation with Hamas.

Whitehall sources told The National that a full list of names of an estimated 200 British passport holders and their dependents in Gaza had been given to the Israeli and Egyptian authorities.

“Officials continue to press at the most senior levels for all British nationals to be able to cross as soon as is practically possible,” a source said. “There has been a focused and determined diplomatic effort to secure the opening of Rafah crossing for foreign nationals to leave Gaza.”

The Foreign Office is sending regular updates to all registered British citizens in Gaza including guidance on when the Egyptians are expecting them to leave after they have been trapped in the territory for almost four weeks.

A number of British doctors are among those stuck in Gaza.

A British surgeon with 16 family members trapped in the enclave has expressed dismay that no UK citizens appear to be on the latest list of foreign passport holders allowed to leave the strip through the Rafah crossing.

"There was another list just published a few hours ago; the majority are Americans, many South Americans and Europeans but still no British nationals included in that list, which is very surprising,” Birmingham surgeon Dr Ahmad Abou-Foul told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“I hope that they come to the British nationals at some point. But the Foreign Office is not providing us with any assurances that they already discussed [the matter] with the Egyptians, that the Egyptians are aware of our presence and that they will prioritise us any time soon.”

Liverpool transplant surgeon, Dr Abdel Hammad, was turned away on Wednesday despite being on the list.

His son Salim Hammad, a doctor in Oxfordshire, heard on Thursday his father had finally been able to get through to the Palestinian side of the crossing.

Western officials have welcomed the opening but are warning that the process is complicated and has to be done “in a methodical and planned way”.

The Foreign Office has sent a Rapid Deployment Team, working alongside the British Red Cross, to Arish, a city 40km from Rafah, to provide the medical care and administrative support needed.

As soon as British citizens get through lengthy official checks at the border and into Egypt, they are put on transport and taken by bus to a reception centre in Cairo.

Here they are offered further medical assistance, food and telephone or internet access to get in touch with their loved ones.

Foreign passport-holders wait at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing. EPA
Foreign passport-holders wait at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing. EPA

The Foreign Office has also advised all British citizens in Gaza to register their presence on its travel advice page.

It has been in regular contact with those who have signed up.

The team in Egypt is also helping citizens with onward travel on commercial flights to Britain or elsewhere and providing them with emergency passports if these have been lost or destroyed in the fighting around Gaza.

“We have agreed a list of British nationals that want to leave Gaza with Egyptian and Israeli authorities," the Foreign Office told The National.

"We will be informed in advance when those on the list can use the crossing to ensure we can provide assistance.”

According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, more than 9,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed in the fighting, after about 1,400 people were killed by the extremists in Israel on October 7.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Britain was “playing an active role in getting aid into Gaza” to assist those in need.

“We are also diplomatically working with everyone in the region to find ways to move our British nationals out of Gaza and bring them home,” he added.

called the first departures from Gaza a “hugely important first step” and his officials were “ready to assist British nationals as soon as they are able to leave”.

He said it was “vital that lifesaving humanitarian aid can enter Gaza as quickly as possible”.

Officials said the Rafah crossing would be opened for “controlled and time-limited periods” for select foreign passport-holders and injured Palestinians to leave.

It has been reported that up to 30 ambulances carrying injured people have passed through the crossing.

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2022:  Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency

July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”

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Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
 

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Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.

The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.

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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.

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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.”

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  • Torque: 760nm
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  • Price: Not announced yet
THE SPECS

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Transmission: seven-speed dual clutch automatic

Power: 169bhp

Torque: 250Nm

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The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.

Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.

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How to wear a kandura

Dos

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  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
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1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29

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4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep

5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM

General Classification:

1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28

2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35

3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02

4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42

5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45

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Visit Abu Dhabi culinary team's top Emirati restaurants in Abu Dhabi

Yadoo’s House Restaurant & Cafe

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Golden Dallah

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Al Mrzab Restaurant

For the shrimp murabian and Kuwaiti options including Kuwaiti machboos with kebab and spicy sauce.

Al Derwaza

For the fish hubul, regag bread, biryani and special seafood soup. 

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If you go...

Flying
There is no simple way to get to Punta Arenas from the UAE, with flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi requiring at least two connections to reach this part of Patagonia. Flights start from about Dh6,250.

Touring
Chile Nativo offers the amended Los Dientes trek with expert guides and porters who are met in Puerto Williams on Isla Navarino. The trip starts and ends in Punta Arenas and lasts for six days in total. Prices start from Dh8,795.

Europe's top EV producers
  1. Norway (63% of cars registered in 2021)
  2. Iceland (33%)
  3. Netherlands (20%)
  4. Sweden (19%)
  5. Austria (14%)
  6. Germany (14%)
  7. Denmark (13%)
  8. Switzerland (13%)
  9. United Kingdom (12%)
  10. Luxembourg (10%)

Source: VCOe 

Tonight's Chat on The National

Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.

Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.

Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.

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Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government

Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council

Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south

Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory

Vidaamuyarchi

Director: Magizh Thirumeni

Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5

 

Infiniti QX80 specs

Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6

Power: 450hp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000

Available: Now

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Key products and UAE prices

iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229

iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649

iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179

Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo

Power: 258hp from 5,000-6,500rpm

Torque: 400Nm from 1,550-4,000rpm

Transmission: Eight-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.1L/100km

Price: from Dh362,500

On sale: now

The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont

Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950

Engine 3.6-litre V6

Gearbox Eight-speed automatic

Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm

Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm

Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km

How to apply for a drone permit
  • Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
  • Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
  • Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
  • Submit their request
What are the regulations?
  • Fly it within visual line of sight
  • Never over populated areas
  • Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
  • Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
  • Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
  • Should have a live feed of the drone flight
  • Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
What are the influencer academy modules?
  1. Mastery of audio-visual content creation. 
  2. Cinematography, shots and movement.
  3. All aspects of post-production.
  4. Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
  5. Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
  6. Tourism industry knowledge.
  7. Professional ethics.
Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

Director: Romany Saad
Starring: Mirfat Amin, Boumi Fouad and Tariq Al Ibyari

Afghanistan fixtures
  • v Australia, today
  • v Sri Lanka, Tuesday
  • v New Zealand, Saturday,
  • v South Africa, June 15
  • v England, June 18
  • v India, June 22
  • v Bangladesh, June 24
  • v Pakistan, June 29
  • v West Indies, July 4
Who is Allegra Stratton?

 

  • Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
  • Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
  • In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
  • The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
  • Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
  • She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
  • Mr Sunak served as best man at her 2011 wedding to Mr Forsyth
Updated: November 02, 2023, 5:01 PM