Israel strikes Gaza as ceasefire talks set to begin
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Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
'As if suffering could be graded': Initiative calls on full, immediate release of all hostages
Bo'u is "led by top professionals in the fields of physical and mental health in Israel, aimed at rescuing the hostages and preserving Israeli society," their website states. The Israel-based 'Bo'u' medical initiative (Come Together) penned a letter on Monday addressing top officials of the country's Health Ministry, asking them not to prioritize certain hostages to be released earlier than others and that they do not agree to only a partial release of the remaining 50 hostages, but a full and immediate release for all, according to a report by KAN, Israel's public broadcaster. Bo'u is "led by top professionals in the fields of physical and mental health in Israel, aimed at rescuing the hostages and preserving Israeli society," their website states. The initiative was created in response to the conditions of the hostages still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It's known for hosting many lectures to raise public awareness on the matter, which are done through their speakers via Zoom. As of Monday, they have held over 700 lectures, according to the initiative. "Deciding on medical grounds who is 'worthy' of release and who will remain in captivity is not only professionally wrong but also intolerable from a conscientious point of view. It creates a reality of selection among hostages, as if suffering could be graded, entitlement to freedom measured, or the extent to which a person deserves to be rescued. "This type of medical selection is familiar to us from the darkest period in the history of the Jewish people," the association continued. "The very use of medical parameters to decide who will remain in captivity and who will be saved echoes historical memories that have no place in a sovereign and moral Jewish state." Israel's public broadcaster also quoted Dr. Einat Yehene, Head of Rehabilitation at the Hostage Families Forum's Health Division, who said that a partial release of hostages leads to jealousy in families whose loved ones still haven't been released and creates gaps between the families.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Gaza civil defence says 12 killed by Israeli forces
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 12 people on Monday, including six in a clinic housing Palestinians displaced after 21 months of war. Israel has recently expanded its military operations in the Gaza Strip, where the war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the Palestinian territory's population of more than two million. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that six people were killed and 15 injured in an Israeli air strike that hit the Al-Rimal clinic, "which houses hundreds of displaced people, in the Al-Rimal neighborhood west of Gaza City." AFP footage showed Palestinians, including groups of young children, combing through the bombed-out interior of the clinic, where mattresses lay alongside wood, metal and concrete broken apart in the blast. "We were surprised by missiles and explosions inside the building," eyewitness Salman Qudum told AFP. "We did not know where to go because of the dust and destruction." In the south of the territory, Bassal said two people were killed and 20 others injured by Israeli forces' gunfire while waiting for aid near a distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). A US- and Israel-backed group, the GHF took the lead in food distribution in the territory in late May, but its operations have had a chaotic rollout with repeated reports of aid seekers killed near its facilities. - Hundreds reported killed - The UN human rights office said last week that more than 500 people have been killed waiting to access food from GHF distribution points. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza on Sunday placed that toll higher, at 751 killed. In Khan Yunis in the south, Bassal reported two people killed in an air strike on a house and another killed by Israeli gunfire. An air strike on a house in Gaza City killed one and injured several others, he added. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. In a separate statement, it said it had struck "dozens of terrorists, weapons depots, observation posts, military buildings, and other terror infrastructures" over the past 24 hours. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency. Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Out of 251 hostages seized during the attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed more than 57,418 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable. bur-az-acc/ser
Forbes
11 hours ago
- Forbes
Why Advisors Should Start With Behavioral Finance During Planning
Gianluca Sidoti is an Independent Financial Advisor, Founder of TraDetector and Managing Partner at The Wealth Company International. Imagine walking into a doctor's office, and instead of asking about your symptoms, the doctor hands you a generic prescription that 'works for most people.' You'd be concerned—and rightfully so. Yet this is exactly what happens every day in the world of finance. Investors are handed prepackaged solutions without anyone considering their behavioral profile, biases, emotional responses or decision-making patterns. As an independent financial advisor who has worked with hundreds of clients across Europe and the Middle East, I can say with certainty: Behavioral finance is the missing foundation in most investment plans. The Human Side Of Money Traditional finance assumes that people are rational agents optimizing expected returns. But anyone who's watched investors panic-sell during a market drop knows this isn't reality. People invest with emotion, not spreadsheets. Over the years, I've encountered investors with wildly different reactions to the same market event. One client, a retired doctor in Milan, saw the Covid crash in 2020 as a golden buying opportunity. Another, a young engineer in Dubai, liquidated his entire portfolio at the bottom. Same market, opposite behavior. The Cost Of Ignoring Behavioral Factors Too many investors lose money not because their investments are bad, but because their behavior sabotages them. They panic during volatility and overestimate their ability to time the market. According to Dalbar's research, the average investor underperforms the market by a significant margin primarily due to emotional decisions. I once worked with an investor who was fixated on checking his portfolio daily. He became obsessed with short-term losses, even in a long-term retirement plan. We worked together to restructure his dashboard to show only quarterly performance, and we agreed on a 'no-login' rule during market turbulence. His results improved, because his behavior changed, not the portfolio itself. Financial Plans Fail Without Emotional Fit Even technically sound investment strategies can fail when they are emotionally unsustainable. A portfolio that's optimized for return but leaves you awake at night is, in my view, a failed portfolio. This is where behavioral profiling becomes essential for advisors. At our firm, we run clients through simulations that test their reactions to hypothetical drawdowns, unexpected expenses or even peer pressure. One tool we use is a 'Loss Aversion Challenge,' where investors are asked how they'd react if their 100,000 euro portfolio dropped by 20,000 euros in two weeks. Their gut response reveals more than any multiple-choice form ever could. Biases: The Unseen Enemy Every investor carries cognitive biases: overconfidence, anchoring, loss aversion, confirmation bias—you name it. And they have real-world consequences. Take, for instance, one client, an entrepreneur in his 40s, who refused to sell a losing stock because 'it would recover.' He was anchored to the purchase price. Eventually, the stock became worthless. Once we worked through the psychological barrier and reframed the concept of 'loss,' he became far more decisive and rational in his portfolio rebalancing. Another investor, a retiree, only invested in companies he recognized from the news. This familiarity bias led to a concentrated, unbalanced portfolio. Through education and exposure to evidence-based strategies, he diversified and reduced his risk—while maintaining emotional comfort. Behavior-First Planning For advisors who want to switch to behavior-first investment planning, here's how it can work in practice: 1. Start with client self-awareness. Use tools rooted in behavioral finance to help clients understand their emotional triggers and financial personality. 2. Incorporate investor emotions into goal alignment. Instead of asking 'How much do you want to save?' ask your clients, 'How do you want to feel when you retire?' or 'What scares you most about investing?' 3. Stress-test through scenarios. Model adverse situations—market crashes, job loss, inflation spikes—to evaluate how clients would react, not just how their portfolio would perform. 4. Provide ongoing coaching. Behavioral change doesn't happen overnight. That's why it's so important to schedule regular check-ins, not just for rebalancing portfolios but for rebalancing mindsets. The Advisor's Role In The Age Of AI With the rise of robo-advisors and AI tools, many ask if human financial advisors will become obsolete. I believe the opposite. Technology can execute trades, optimize allocations and automate savings. But it cannot coach behavior. It can't listen to a client's fear during a crisis or help them navigate a life transition. My vision of the future is hybrid: AI for efficiency, human advisors for empathy. Final Thoughts Behavioral finance should not be an afterthought or a side topic. It should be the starting point of every financial plan. Without understanding human behavior, the best strategy on paper can become a disaster in practice. Investing is not just a numbers game. It's a game of emotions, discipline and decisions made under uncertainty. As advisors, our job is to guide clients not only toward better portfolios—but toward better behaviors. That's how real wealth is built: with a plan that understands the person behind the money. The information provided here is not investment, tax or financial advice. You should consult with a licensed professional for advice concerning your specific situation. Forbes Finance Council is an invitation-only organization for executives in successful accounting, financial planning and wealth management firms. Do I qualify?
