LATEST: Death toll in Israel and Gaza rises as fighting rages
Two Israeli tourists were killed on Sunday in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, police officials said.
They said a policeman on routine duty in the city's Manshiyah district “randomly” opened fire at a group of Israeli tourists visiting Pompey's Pillar, one of the city's Roman-era landmarks.
An Egyptian was killed and another wounded in the attack, said the officials.
The suspect has been detained and the wounded taken to hospital, they said.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed that two Israelis were killed along with their tour guide.
A video clip online showed the bodies of two males motionless on the ground with a pool of blood around one of them.
Two women were shouting in Hebrew as Egyptian policemen stood by. A third man, apparently wounded, sat on the ground next to one of the two bodies.
There have been incidents in the past when Egyptian policemen opened fire on Israelis or were killed in attacks on the border between Egypt and Israel.
In June, an Egyptian policeman on duty at the border killed three Israeli soldiers before he was killed.
In 2011, assailants who came from Sinai killed eight Israelis in an ambush north of the city of Eilat at the northern end of the Dead Sea's Gulf of Aqaba.
Pursuing Israeli soldiers killed seven of the attackers and five Egyptian policemen.
Peace treaty
Egypt and Israel are bound by a peace treaty signed in 1979.
The neighbours have for years had what was known as a cold peace, but relations have deepened over the past decade with the exchange of intelligence on extremists and co-ordination on counter-terrorism policies.
They also co-operate on combating human trafficking into Israel from Sinai.
Sunday's attack comes after more than 300 Palestinians and 250 Israelis have been killed in the worst fighting to date between the militant Palestinian Hamas group and Israel.
An unknown number of Israelis have been taken hostage by Hamas after members of its armed wing launched a surprise attack on Friday.
Civilians and soldiers are believed to have been taken into the Gaza Strip, some of whom have been paraded by Hamas militants in video shared on social media.
Children and the elderly are thought to be among the hostages.
Israel has responded by launching air strikes on the besieged enclave.
At least 20 children have been killed so far, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Egypt, which borders Israel and Gaza, had in the past mediated truces that ended hostilities between Israel and Hamas. The last time it did that was in the summer of 2021.
Egyptian security officials say Cairo's efforts to end the latest fighting are hindered by ambitious Hamas demands, including a freeze by Israel on building new Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the release of thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Israel's insistence on exacting a heavy price on the militant group before entering truce negotiations is another obstacle to the Egyptian peace effort, they said.
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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.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
