Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Palestinians sheltering in Gaza's coastal Al Mawasi area have told of the severe hardship they are facing, days after Israel ordered 100,000 people to flee to the area from the southern city of Rafah.
Tens of thousands in areas in the east of Rafah, including Al Salam and Tal Al Sultan, were told to “immediately evacuate” on Monday morning.
Hours later, Israeli troops seized and closed the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, cutting off all potential exits to Gaza.
The Karam Abu Salem crossing reopened and closed again on Wednesday, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, after allowing only one lorry of fuel into the strip.
Al Mawasi, between Rafah and Khan Younis, is already home to more than 450,000 Palestinians displaced from other parts of Gaza – and has been attacked multiple times despite being described as a “safe zone” by the Israeli army.
Ola Aboud, 45, was displaced from Gaza city to Al Mawasi with her father, sister and three children.
“The water that we receive here, and we buy, is polluted,” she told The National.
“I have become sick many times, with a pain in my abdomen and vomiting, which lasted for two days. All my family members suffered the same symptoms.
“It was already crowded with people, and it's become worse with more people coming.”
The growing number of displaced has caused prices of food to soar, she added, at a time when a full-blown famine has been declared in the north and is moving south, according to the World Food Programme.
“I hope this nightmare ends soon, and we can go back to our homes in Gaza city,” Ms Aboud added.
About 50,000 people were estimated to have fled Rafah within 48 hours of Israel's orders, Scott Anderson, the senior deputy director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, told CNN on Wednesday.
He said Al Mawasi did not have adequate infrastructure to cater for the surge in numbers.
“It's essentially a sandy area, so there's no sewage infrastructure, there's no water infrastructure. There aren’t roads that lead into it,” Mr Anderson warned.
Abu Mohammed Abu Amra, 65, arrived in Al Mawasi on Tuesday, after his home was damaged by shelling. He has collected relief assistance to buy a tent, which he says is costly.
“I haven't built a bathroom, so I need to walk to reach the nearest one. I can't walk, and it is hard for me,” he said.
Many of those fleeing Rafah have been displaced several times already and fled south as Israel pushed through northern Gaza in late October, forcing more than 1 million people from their homes.
"Rafah was never equipped to host nearly 1.5 million Palestinians. And now that space shrinks yet again and they're being asked to move yet again," Jessica Moussan, media relations adviser for the International Committee of the Red Cross, told The National.
"The constant stress, and pervasive sense of insecurity is an extra layer of suffering to the people of Gaza. No one knows what the immediate or distant future holds for them and their loved ones.
"The psychological toll of living through nearly seven months of relentless conflict – the longest in a decade – is immense."
Osama Al Hinnawi, 50, fled to Al Mawasi four months ago, and said the area was originally empty and not prepared to host displaced people.
Insects and polluted water are rife amid mounting piles of rubbish, he said, with local authorities unable to deal with the levels of waste.
Speaking to The Guardian in March, a senior aid official said water lorries were only servicing Al Mawasi once a day, with people forced to relieve themselves in the sand or sea.
“There is no real organised assistance. Sanitary conditions are appalling,” said the official.
Other aid officials, who spoke to The National anonymously, described Al Mawasi as "razed" and said the surrounding area has been completely devastated by the war.
The impact of Al Mawasi's poor infrastructure is compounded by even less aid entering Gaza than before, they said.
"A cessation of hostilities is crucial to allow uninterrupted aid distribution throughout Gaza," Ms Moussan added. "As the occupying power, Israel has a responsibility to ensure the basic needs of the civilian population are met."
In January, a compound housing employees of the International Rescue Committee and Medical Aid for Palestinians came under attack in Al Mawasi.
Four British doctors were injured in the air strike, alongside MAP staff and a bodyguard, while the compound sustained “significant damage.”
Despite the risks, Palestinians displaced several times said they had nowhere else to go.
“The Israeli army is not trusted. What if they reach us, and we are forced to move again?” said Abu Mohammed.
“I prefer to die than to move again.”
The Facility’s Versatility
Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEjari%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERiyadh%2C%20Saudi%20Arabia%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EYazeed%20Al%20Shamsi%2C%20Fahad%20Albedah%2C%20Mohammed%20Alkhelewy%20and%20Khalid%20Almunif%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPropTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20funding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%241%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESanabil%20500%20Mena%2C%20Hambro%20Perks'%20Oryx%20Fund%20and%20angel%20investors%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
more from Janine di Giovanni
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
