Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Israel’s war in Gaza has dragged on for 19 months, but the past three days have shown just how relentless it remains.
Entire families have been wiped out in a wave of strikes attacking homes, schools, tents and more, despite a global outcry that has so far failed to pressure Israel into halting the war.
Among the most harrowing Israeli attacks was the bombing of Fahmi Al Jarjawi school in the Al Daraj neighbourhood of central Gaza city, where hundreds of displaced families had sought shelter.
“The school was supposed to be a place of safety. Instead, it was turned into an inferno,” Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence body, told The National. Medics announced the death of 40 people, mostly children and women.
The Israeli missile strike ignited a massive blaze that swept through the school building and the tents pitched inside its grounds. Civil defence teams battled for hours to extinguish the flames.
“We heard desperate cries for help from people trapped alive inside the blaze,” Mr Basal said. “But the fire was too intense. We couldn’t get to them.”
Hussein Muhaysin, a paramedic who rushed to the scene, was the first to rescue Ward Al Sheikh Khalil, a young girl pulled from the wreckage just before the flames reached her.
“She was moments away from death,” he told The National. “When we pulled her out, she was in shock, silent, trembling, unable to comprehend what had just happened.”
Little Ward survived. But her family did not.
“We couldn’t bring ourselves to tell her that her entire family was killed in the bombing,” said Mr Muhaysin. “Only her father survived, and he is now in critical condition,” he added.
“We see tragedy every day, but holding a child who has lost everything, who doesn’t even know yet, that’s a kind of pain no one can explain.”
Sudden death
In the northern town of Jabalia, the Abdel Rabbo family suffered a similar fate. At dawn on Monday, Israeli warplanes struck their home with a massive missile, killing 19 people, most of them women and children.
“It was sudden,” Moumen Abdel Rabbo, 28, a relative who rushed to the scene, said. “The house was completely flattened. Ambulances barely made it through to recover the wounded and the dead. Some bodies are still trapped under the rubble.”
They didn’t want anyone to escape
Suheir Al-Najjar
Even as family members tried to dig through debris, Israeli drones buzzed overhead, and surrounding areas continued to be shelled.
“How can we search for survivors under fire?” asked the relative. “These were civilians, mothers, toddlers, elderly people. This wasn’t a military target. It was our home.”
The Israeli army claimed that it was hitting Hamas targets in both areas. But images and footage of the attacks showed dozens of Palestinian women and children dead or injured.
Over the past three days, more than 75 people have been killed across various parts of the besieged territory, cut off from sufficient aid, leaving over two million people trapped between fire and famine.
Despite a global demand for an end to the war, amid rising calls for sanctions against Israel, the ceasefire negotiations have stalled for months.
Not a target
The negotiations resumed in Cairo on Monday, with mediators from Egypt, the US and Qatar presenting a slightly amended version of a previous proposal for a 70-day truce and the release of 10 Israeli hostages, according to sources close to the talks.
Of the 58 hostages still held by Hamas, only about 20 are believed to be alive, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The sources told The National that a mid-level Israeli team of negotiators and a senior Hamas official were due in Cairo on Monday to join the mediators. They added that the US administration is using Bishara Bahbah, a Palestinian-American, as an intermediary or go-between with Hamas.
According to the sources, the negotiations include talks on a "long-term" ceasefire that will commence during the 70-day truce. They were expected to also cover the departure from Gaza and into exile of senior officials from Hamas, as well as the group's ally, the Islamic Jihad.
On Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Israel's recent attacks on Gaza are taking a humanitarian toll on civilians that can no longer be justified as a fight against Hamas.
"Harming the civilian population to such an extent, as has increasingly been the case in recent days, can no longer be justified as a fight against Hamas terrorism," he told broadcaster WDR in a televised interview.
One of the most tragic killings in the past days was the story of Dr Alaa Al Najjar, a physician working at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the south, who lost nine of her 10 children in a single Israeli air strike on their home while she was saving lives elsewhere.
“The Israeli army hit my uncle’s house with one missile that didn’t explode,” Suheir Al Najjar, a cousin, told the National. “Then came a second missile, which reduced the house to ashes.”
“There was no time between the two strikes. They didn’t want anyone to escape. It was a deliberate attempt to kill them all at once,” said Ms Al Najjar.
“My uncle and his wife are doctors. They have no links to armed groups. They spent the war treating the wounded, saving lives,” she said. “This was a family, not a target.”
Only the husband and one of the sons survived. Both remain in intensive care. The bodies of two of the nine children are still missing, buried beneath the rubble.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
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”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
Who's who in Yemen conflict
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
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
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Transmission: 10-speed auto
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The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
The nine articles of the 50-Year Charter
1. Dubai silk road
2. A geo-economic map for Dubai
3. First virtual commercial city
4. A central education file for every citizen
5. A doctor to every citizen
6. Free economic and creative zones in universities
7. Self-sufficiency in Dubai homes
8. Co-operative companies in various sectors
9: Annual growth in philanthropy
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Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Two products to make at home
Toilet cleaner
1 cup baking soda
1 cup castile soap
10-20 drops of lemon essential oil (or another oil of your choice)
Method:
1. Mix the baking soda and castile soap until you get a nice consistency.
2. Add the essential oil to the mix.
Air Freshener
100ml water
5 drops of the essential oil of your choice (note: lavender is a nice one for this)
Method:
1. Add water and oil to spray bottle to store.
2. Shake well before use.
Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
Brief scores:
Juventus 3
Dybala 6', Bonucci 17', Ronaldo 63'
Frosinone 0
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2pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 50,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner: AF Al Moreeb, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
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Winner: Untold Secret, Jose Santiago, Salem bin Ghadayer
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
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Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
'Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore'
Rating: 3/5
Directed by: David Yates
Starring: Mads Mikkelson, Eddie Redmayne, Ezra Miller, Jude Law
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
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Du Plessis plans his retirement
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said on Friday the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in two years' time will be his last.
Du Plessis, 34, who has led his country in two World T20 campaigns, in 2014 and 2016, is keen to play a third but will then step aside.
"The T20 World Cup in 2020 is something I'm really looking forward to. I think right now that will probably be the last tournament for me," he said in Brisbane ahead of a one-off T20 against Australia on Saturday.
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
Essentials
The flights
Emirates flies direct from Dubai to Seattle from Dh6,755 return in economy and Dh24,775 in business class.
The cruise
UnCruise Adventures offers a variety of small-ship cruises in Alaska and around the world. A 14-day Alaska’s Inside Passage and San Juans Cruise from Seattle to Juneau or reverse costs from $4,695 (Dh17,246), including accommodation, food and most activities. Trips in 2019 start in April and run until September.
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Fanney Khan
Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora
Director: Atul Manjrekar
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand
Rating: 2/5
