Israeli aircraft struck Gaza while Palestinians fired rockets at Israel on Saturday after an Israeli operation against the Islamic Jihad militant group in the Gaza Strip ended more than a year of calm along the border.
The Israeli strikes have killed 24 people - including six children - and left more than 200 injured, authorities in Gaza say.
On Saturday, Israel said it struck Islamic Jihad militants preparing to launch rockets. Additional bombings aimed at three houses, witnesses said, flattening at least one as the sounds of more explosions rocked Gaza City.
Palestinian news agency Wafa said air strikes destroyed two buildings on Saturday — one in Gaza City and another to the west — leaving more than 100 people homeless. Warnings were given to the residents shortly before both attacks, it said.
Targets in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip were also hit, Wafa said.
But Israel said it has "irrefutable" evidence that stray rocket from Islamic Jihad militants was responsible for the death of multiple children in Jabalia, northern Gaza, on Saturday.
The Israeli army said it was prepared for a “week of fighting” against Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip.
The military said it apprehended 19 Islamic Jihad militants in overnight raids in the occupied West Bank and it was aiming at the group's rocket manufacturing sites and launchers in Gaza.
Defence Minister Benny Gantz said the military was conducting operations to remove Islamic Jihad's threat and "restore peace and stability in Israel's south".
Palestinian militants fired at least 160 rockets across the Gaza border on Saturday, setting off air raid sirens and sending people running to bomb shelters as far away as the central Israeli city of Modiin, between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Islamic Jihad said it had aimed at Israel's main international gateway, Ben Gurion Airport, but the rocket fell short near Modiin, about 20 kilometres away. Israel's Civil Aviation Authority said the airport was operating as usual with flight routes adjusted.
Air raid sirens also sounded in the southern city of Sderot and several other towns near the border with the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported.
Most of the missiles were intercepted and there were no reports of serious casualties, according to the Israeli ambulance service.
The UN humanitarian chief for the occupied Palestinian territories, Lynn Hastings, urged the warring sides to allow "fuel, food, and medical supplies" to be delivered to Gaza amid the worsening crisis.
Egypt's Foreign Ministry said Cairo was "conducting contacts" with the aim of containing the situation in Gaza, bringing calm and protecting lives and property.
UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland said he was "deeply concerned" and gave a warning that the escalation was "very dangerous".
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the Americans "certainly urge all sides to avoid further escalation" while supporting their ally Israel's right to defend itself.
Egypt has mediated in previous flare-ups in fighting between Gaza militants and Israel, including the 11-day war in May last year.
Israel's continuing assault is the most sustained since that conflict, which claimed 250 lives in Gaza and 13 in Israel.
The Israeli military routinely conducts strikes in response to occasional rocket fire from Gaza, particularly incidents involving groups its says are affiliated to the Hamas militant organisation that controls the Palestinian territory.
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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.”
