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First responders in Gaza run out of supplies

First responders in Gaza said Thursday that their operations were at a near standstill, more than two months into a full Israeli blockade that has left food and fuel in severe shortage.Israel denies a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, where it plans to expand military operations to force Hamas to free hostages held there since the Iran-backed group’s unprecedented October 2023 attack.”Seventy-five percent of our vehicles have stopped operating due to a lack of diesel fuel,” the civil defence agency’s spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.He added that its teams, who play a critical role as first responders in the Gaza Strip, were also facing a “severe shortage of electricity generators and oxygen devices”.For weeks, UN agencies and other humanitarian organisations have warned of dwindling supplies of everything from fuel and medicine to food and clean water in the coastal territory that is home to 2.4 million Palestinians.The UN’s agency for children, UNICEF, warned that Gaza’s children face “a growing risk of starvation, illness and death” after UN-supported kitchens shut down due to lack of food supplies.Over 20 independent experts mandated by the UN’s Human Rights Council demanded action on Wednesday to avert the “annihilation” of Palestinians in Gaza.On Thursday, Palestinians waited in line to donate blood at a field hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Yunis, an AFP journalist reported.”In these difficult circumstances, we have come to support the injured and sick, amid severe food shortages and a lack of proteins, by donating blood”, Moamen al-Eid, a Palestinian waiting in the line, told AFP.- ‘No food or drink’ -Hind Joba, the hospital’s laboratory head, said that “there is no food or drink, the crossings are closed, and there is no access to nutritious or protein-rich food”.”Still, people responded to the call, fulfilling their humanitarian duty by donating blood” despite the toll on their own bodies, she added.”But this blood is vital, and they know that every drop helps save the life of an injured.”Israel returned to military operations in Gaza on March 18 after talks to prolong a six-week ceasefire stalled.On Monday, the country’s security cabinet approved a new roadmap for military operations in Gaza, aiming for the “conquest” of the territory while displacing its people en masse, drawing international condemnation.An Israeli security official stated that a “window” remained for negotiations on the release of hostages until the end of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Gulf, scheduled from May 13 to 16.Hamas, which is demanding a “comprehensive and complete agreement” to end the war, on Wednesday denounced what it called Israel’s attempt to impose a “partial” deal.According to the civil defence agency, air strikes at dawn killed at least eight people.The war was sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.Of the 251 people abducted in Israel that day, 58 are still being held in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the Israeli army. Hamas is also holding the body of an Israeli soldier killed during a previous war in Gaza, in 2014.The Israeli offensive launched in retaliation for the October 7 attack has killed at least 52,653 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run Health Ministry, which is considered reliable by the UN.

Emirates airline group announces record $6.2 bn gross profit

Dubai’s Emirates Group, which includes the Middle East’s biggest airline, announced on Thursday gross annual profit of $6.2 billion, its third record in three years.The 18 percent rise in profit, based on strong customer demand, slimmed to $5.6 billion after the UAE’s recently introduced corporate tax, which was applied for a full financial year for the first time.”The Emirates Group has raised the bar to set new records for profit, revenue and cash assets,” chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said in a statement.The group invested $3.8 billion in new aircraft, infrastructure and technology “to support its growth plans”, the statement said.Its workforce grew by 9 percent to an unprecedented 121,223 employees.The group declared a $1.6 billion dividend to its owner, the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD).Emirates airline, excluding the group’s other businesses, posted a record $5.8 billion pre-tax profit, up 20 percent from the year before.Its revenue grew by 6 percent, reaching $34.9 billion.Emirates’ ground services arm Dnata also boasted a record pre-tax profit of $430 million, up 2 percent from last year.State-owned Emirates Group operates the world’s largest long-haul carrier.As of March, it had 314 aircraft pending delivery, including 61 A350s and 205 Boeing 777x, the statement said.It said it was retrofitting 219 aircraft at a cost of $5 billion to make up for delayed aircraft orders.Sheikh Ahmed had previously said the group was retrofitting 90 percent of its fleet to make up for the delays.