Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar are focused on proposals for a truce of up to 70 days and the release of nine hostages, sources told The National on Sunday, as more than 130 people were killed by Israeli air strikes.
Israel signalled on Sunday that it was open to striking a deal with Hamas that included “ending the fighting” in Gaza, where rescuers reported scores of people killed a day after Israel increased its offensive and announced it had launched an “extensive” ground operation.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel's negotiators in Doha “were working to exhaust every possibility for a deal”.
Such a deal, said the statement, “would include the release of all the hostages, the exile of Hamas terrorists, and the disarmament of the Gaza Strip”.
Medical sources in Gaza said 132 Palestinians were killed in intensive Israeli air strikes from dawn on Sunday, including 61 people in Gaza city and elsewhere in the northern Gaza Strip, official news agency Wafa reported.
Under the plan being discussed in Qatar, the sources said negotiations on a permanent ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza would commence during the truce, with Hamas demanding that the US offers the militant group a guarantee that they would target a “comprehensive” deal to end the 19-month-old conflict.
However, the sources said that while Hamas was demanding a 70-day truce, Israel's counterproposal was for just 42 days, up from the 21 days it had earlier suggested.
“That's a degree of progress,” said one of the sources.
The talks came as a new offensive was under way, part of an expanded campaign that Israel says is aimed at defeating Hamas.
The military said that over the past day, both active duty and reservist troops had “begun extensive ground operations throughout the northern and southern Gaza Strip”, adding they had “eliminated dozens of terrorists, dismantled terrorist infrastructure sites … and are currently being deployed in key positions”.
During the initial truce, Hamas has also agreed to release the remains of half the hostages who died while in captivity, said the sources.
The release of both the living hostages and remains of deceased would be staggered, said the sources. Their freedom would be bartered for the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons.
Hamas is believed to be holding 58 hostages − of whom only 23 are now thought to still be alive − according to the Israeli military. Last week, Hamas freed dual US-Israel national Edan Alexander as a goodwill gesture to US President Donald Trump as he embarked on a milestone Middle East tour that took him to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.
No Palestinians held in Israeli jails were freed in return for his release, which had been expected to significantly contribute to reaching a deal on a Gaza truce. That expectation was further prompted by Mr Trump's upbeat comments.
He said “good things” would come to Gaza within the next month and that he wanted to “help out” Palestinians, as he acknowledged that “a lot of people are starving in Gaza”.
Instead, Israel announced it was launching the “initial stages” of another Gaza operation, which has claimed hundreds of lives since Friday, according to the health authorities in Gaza.
The sources said Israel has also made it clear in negotiations in Qatar that it has no intention of withdrawing fully from Gaza. According to the sources, Israel said it would hold on to parts of the enclave to ensure no repeat of the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on its southern communities, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 240 abducted.
It is also adamant it would only agree to a “renewable” truce after the initial ceasefire is over, said the sources. They did not specify the duration of the renewable truce.
Israel responded to the October 2023 attack with a devastating military operation that has to date killed more than 53,300 Palestinians and wounded more than twice that number, according to Gaza's health authorities.
The war also laid to waste most of Gaza's built-up areas and displaced the majority of its 2.3 million residents.
Israel has consistently maintained that it will not end the Gaza war before Hamas's military and governing capabilities are completely dismantled. Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, has shown its readiness to be excluded from any postwar Gaza administration or reconstruction effort.
It also suggested that it was prepared to lay down, though not surrender, its arms while transforming itself into a political party. It has also signalled its openness to meet Israel's demand for some of its leaders in Gaza to leave the strip, provided they are not targeted while living in exile.
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The%20specs
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Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
INFO
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
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Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
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WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Titan Sports Academy:
Programmes: Judo, wrestling, kick-boxing, muay thai, taekwondo and various summer camps
Location: Inside Abu Dhabi City Golf Club, Al Mushrif, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Telephone: 971 50 220 0326
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: McLaren 600LT
Price, base: Dh914,000
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 600hp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 620Nm @ 5,500rpm
Fuel economy 12.2.L / 100km
HAJJAN
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
