Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, flashes the victory sign after his meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut
Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, flashes the victory sign after his meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut
Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, flashes the victory sign after his meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut
Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, flashes the victory sign after his meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut

MENA

Ismail Haniyeh re-elected as Hamas leader without opposition

The head of the group since 2017, Haniyeh has ruled largely from Turkey and Qatar

The National

August 02, 2021

  • English
  • Arabic

Ismail Haniyeh has been re-elected as the leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, officials said on Sunday.

The win will cement his control of the organisation, which rules the Gaza Strip and has fought several violent conflicts with Israel.

No known opponent of Haniyeh had stood against him.

Hamas chief since 2017, he has controlled the group’s political activities in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the diaspora largely from a distance, dividing his time between Turkey and Qatar for the past two years.

In May, he directed Hamas in the 11-day conflict with Israel that killed more than 250 in Gaza and 13 in Israel. An Egypt-mediated ceasefire has mostly held since.

  • A child holds the Palestinian flag as people celebrate a ceasefire brokered by Egypt between Israel and the two main Palestinian armed groups in Gaza. AFP
    A child holds the Palestinian flag as people celebrate a ceasefire brokered by Egypt between Israel and the two main Palestinian armed groups in Gaza. AFP
  • Palestinians celebrate in Ramallah after the announcement of a ceasefire between the Palestinians and Israel. AFP
    Palestinians celebrate in Ramallah after the announcement of a ceasefire between the Palestinians and Israel. AFP
  • Israel's Cabinet and Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, agreed on a ceasefire starting in the early hours of this morning. Getty Images
    Israel's Cabinet and Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, agreed on a ceasefire starting in the early hours of this morning. Getty Images
  • The ceasefire comes into force after 11 days of deadly fighting that pounded the Palestinian enclave and forced countless Israelis to seek shelter from rockets. AFP
    The ceasefire comes into force after 11 days of deadly fighting that pounded the Palestinian enclave and forced countless Israelis to seek shelter from rockets. AFP
  • The recent fighting began on May 10 after rising tensions in East Jerusalem. Getty Images
    The recent fighting began on May 10 after rising tensions in East Jerusalem. Getty Images
  • The recent fighting has killed over 230 Palestinians, many of them women and children, and 13 Israelis. Getty Images
    The recent fighting has killed over 230 Palestinians, many of them women and children, and 13 Israelis. Getty Images
  • Palestinians celebrate in front of a destroyed building in Gaza City. AFP
    Palestinians celebrate in front of a destroyed building in Gaza City. AFP
  • Palestinians celebrate in the streets following a ceasefire brokered by Egypt between Israel and the ruling Islamist movement Hamas. Mohammed Abed / AFP
    Palestinians celebrate in the streets following a ceasefire brokered by Egypt between Israel and the ruling Islamist movement Hamas. Mohammed Abed / AFP
  • Palestinians celebrate in the streets following a ceasefire in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters
    Palestinians celebrate in the streets following a ceasefire in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters
  • A family that was sheltering at a United Nations-run school return with their belongings to their home following the ceasefire. AFP
    A family that was sheltering at a United Nations-run school return with their belongings to their home following the ceasefire. AFP

He was recently involved in talks aimed at bolstering the Cairo-brokered ceasefire that ended the latest deadly violence.

“Brother Ismail Haniyeh was re-elected as the head of the movement’s political office for a second time,” one Palestinian official told Reuters after an internal election by party members. His term will last four years.

Aged 58, Haniyeh is considered a pragmatist. He was the right-hand man to Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin in Gaza, before the cleric was assassinated in 2004.

Haniyeh led Hamas’ entry into politics in January 2006. They were the surprise victors in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, defeating Fatah, the divided party led by President Mahmoud Abbas.

Haniyeh became prime minister shortly afterwards, but Hamas – which is deemed a terrorist organisation by the US, Israel and the EU – was shunned by the international community.

After a brief civil war, the group seized Gaza from the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, which has limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in 2007. Israel has led a blockade of Gaza since then, citing threats from Hamas.

Haniyeh’s victory caps internal elections in which the group’s Gaza chief, Yahya Sinwar, won a second term in March.

Further votes were delayed by the surge in violence in May.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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