A small Israeli task force scoured the sands of a nature reserve along Israel’s Mediterranean coast Monday, taking part in a widening effort to clean up a disastrous oil spill that has blackened most of the country’s shoreline and reached beaches of neighbouring Lebanon.
The roughly dozen workers on Palmachim Beach were among thousands of volunteers, soldiers and park rangers who have taken up the task of extracting millions of tiny globs of sticky black tar that have coated the Israeli shoreline in recent days after an oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea. The clean up is expected to take months.
Green bags filled with tar-coated shells and detritus quickly piled up on the beach. The ministry and environmental groups estimate at least 1,000 tons of tar washed up on the coast.
Israel’s Environmental Protection Ministry is investigating the cause of the oil spill, believed to have taken place between February 6-10. On Monday, the ministry released a court-issued gag order on all details of the investigation into the party responsible. The Nature and Parks Authority has called it one of the country’s “worst ecological disasters” to date.
The ministry said it received no prior warning from any international organisations about the spill.
An acrid petroleum filled the air and a black streak at the high tide mark ran the length of the shore. It was just a tiny stretch of an oil slick that has coated almost the entire length of Israel’s 195-kilometre coastline.
On Sunday, the ministry urged Israelis to stay away from the beaches, citing serious health hazards posed by the tar. It has caused extensive damage to wildlife.
Project 500 is funded by the Defence Ministry and has put 500 people left unemployed because of the coronavirus recession to work for the past few months cleaning national parks and nature reserves.
When the oil spill hit last week, the unit – comprised of Jews and Arabs alike from around the country – was mobilised to help with the spill.
Imad Khoury, a Palestinian from Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem who was among those on the beach, said the shared effort was a welcome change from the steady stream of bad news. “This is something different,” he said.
The environmental damage is not restricted to Israel. Farther north, deposits of tar have started washing up in southern Lebanon.
The management of the city of Tyre’s coastal nature reserve, one of Lebanon’s last remaining sandy beaches and an important nesting site for endangered Loggerhead and Green sea turtles, said the spill could endanger marine life and biodiversity in the area.
The reserve is one of two marine protected areas in Lebanon and contains a wide diversity of ecosystems and is located on a major bird migration route.
Hassan Hamza, engineer at the Tyre reserve, said teams were evaluating how much tar washed up to organise quick clean ups. He said it appeared that “most Lebanese beaches have been affected by this pollution.”
Caretaker Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab has asked the defence and environment ministers to follow up and said the government was “acting accordingly to repair the damage caused by the leakage.”
Nir Hodeda, a Jerusalem resident who used to work as a mobile phone salesman, was working with Project 500 doing restoration at the West Bank site of Qumran – home of the Dead Sea Scrolls – until he was mobilised to Palmachim.
“You’re doing something for nature, not just for a person, for wild animals, for the climate, for the environment, for everyone,” he said.
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Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Titanium Escrow profile
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
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What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
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
Naga
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'The Sky is Everywhere'
Director:Josephine Decker
Stars:Grace Kaufman, Pico Alexander, Jacques Colimon
Rating:2/5
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Cracks in the Wall
Ben White, Pluto Press
