Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
President Joe Biden continues to oppose a military operation in Rafah, the White House said on Monday, as Israel has not presented a “credible and implementable” plan to protect civilians in the southern Gaza city that is sheltering more than one million Palestinians.
White House deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton said Mr Biden maintains that Israel has a right to self-defence, but it must proceed in a manner consistent with the laws of war.
She added Israel must also avoid adding to the dire humanitarian situation and “the unacceptably high level of civilian casualties”.
“No military operation should take place in Rafah if there is no credible and implementable plan to take care of the safety and security needs of the more than a million civilians sheltering there,” Ms Dalton told reporters aboard AirForce One.
“And we've seen no such plan.”
The comments come after a ceasefire failed to materialise with the advent of Ramadan and after Mr Biden and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traded barbs at the weekend.
Mr Netanyahu has vowed to launch an all-out offensive in Rafah, the southern Gazan city where half of the enclave's population has sought refuge, without specifying where civilians could go to escape the fighting.
Mr Biden has said that an attack on Rafah without an safety plan for Palestinian civilians would be a “red line”, but also said he would continue to provide military support for Israel.
The President, who is running for re-election, has supported Israel in its massive military operation in Gaza, which it launched on October 7 after Hamas gunmen attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking hundreds more hostage.
But amid public disagreements over a potential invasion of Rafah and frustration over the insufficient entry of aid into the enclave, some experts have said Mr Biden could adopt a tougher stance with Mr Netanyahu.
Last week, Mr Biden was recorded saying he had told Mr Netanyahu that the two were headed for a “come to Jesus” conversation over the issue of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Ms Dalton said that the last time the two leaders spoke was in mid-February, though teams from both countries are in touch on a daily basis.
“The President has held a decades-long, constructive, productive relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu – the length of that relationship that they've had allows him to be direct and honest at a time where that's needed, but there's no change here to the strength of the two leaders’ relationship,” she said.
In a statement to mark the beginning of Ramadan on Sunday, Mr Biden said that the holy month comes “at a moment of intense pain” for the Muslim community.
“As Muslims gather around the world over the coming days and weeks to break their fast, the suffering of the Palestinian people will be front of mind for many,” he said. “It is front of mind for me.”
Ramadan in Gaza – in pictures
In more than five months of war, more than 31,100 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children, have been killed, according to Gaza health authorities.
The US, along with Qatar and Egypt, for weeks had been working on brokering a pause in the fighting ahead of Ramadan.
Negotiations are continuing on the agreement, which would include the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails, as well as the entry of a greater amounts of much-needed humanitarian aid.
But talks have stalled as both sides have failed to agree on the terms of the ceasefire.
Meanwhile in the more than five months of war, the majority of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced and hundreds of thousands are facing famine.
After months of US efforts to get Israel to allow the sustained entry of aid into Gaza by land, the US said it would deliver assistance by sea from nearby Cyprus, though the mission could take weeks as the effort requires the installation of a military pier.
Last week, the US began dropping food into the strip by air, but humanitarian aid groups said the effort is both dangerous to civilians and insufficient.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
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Naga
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Summer special
Full Party in the Park line-up
2pm – Andreah
3pm – Supernovas
4.30pm – The Boxtones
5.30pm – Lighthouse Family
7pm – Step On DJs
8pm – Richard Ashcroft
9.30pm – Chris Wright
10pm – Fatboy Slim
11pm – Hollaphonic
FA CUP FINAL
Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
More from our Neighbourhood series:
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
2.0
Director: S Shankar
Producer: Lyca Productions; presented by Dharma Films
Cast: Rajnikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
SPECS
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Brief scores:
Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first
Pakhtoons 137-6 (10 ov)
Fletcher 68 not out; Cutting 2-14
Sindhis 129-8 (10 ov)
Perera 47; Sohail 2-18
The low down
Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films
Director: Namrata Singh Gujral
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark
Rating: 2/5
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
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What is a calorie?
A food calorie, or kilocalorie, is a measure of nutritional energy generated from what is consumed.
One calorie, is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C.
A kilocalorie represents a 1,000 true calories of energy.
Energy density figures are often quoted as calories per serving, with one gram of fat in food containing nine calories, and a gram of protein or carbohydrate providing about four.
Alcohol contains about seven calories a gram.
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Crazy Rich Asians
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeon, Gemma Chan
Four stars
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Company%20profile
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Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
