A senior Hamas commander has reportedly defected from the Gaza Strip to Israel.
The official was caught allegedly spying for Israel inside the coastal enclave before he escaped by sea, according to Saudi-owned broadcaster Al Arabiya.
He was identified in Palestinian media reports as Mohammed Omar Abu Ajwa, a man in charge of a unit in Hamas’ informal naval force who had control of sensitive documents relating to Hamas’ operations.
He had allegedly been co-operating with Israel since 2009.
Hamas denied the claims. "The Al Arabiya channel is promoting rumours that serve the aims of the occupation in destabilising the home front in Gaza," Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said.
The strip is run by Hamas, which has fought three wars with Israel since 2007. At times, Iran has backed the group financially, sending it money and military aid to help it fight Israel.
Its fighters and those from other militant groups, have since lobbed thousands of rockets and other projectiles towards Israel sparking retaliation.
The Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the strip since 2007 has left the enclave with the highest unemployment rate in the world and a crippled economy that has left it on the verge of becoming “unliveable,” according to the United Nations.
Israel says the strict blockade is necessary to contain Hamas but critics argue it amounts to collective punishment and deepens Gaza's humanitarian crisis.
Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
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