The launch of three rockets from Lebanon towards Israel on Thursday raised the spectre of Lebanon-based militant groups becoming involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but analysts say that the incident was probably a one-off and that further escalation is unlikely for now.
The rockets were fired from Lebanon into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of northern Israel and caused no damage, the Israeli military said.
Lebanese security officials refused to confirm or deny the incident. Several news agencies quoted unnamed Lebanese security forces confirming Israeli claims, saying the rockets were fired from the Qlaileh region, south of the coastal city of Tyre.
A spokesman for Unifil, the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, confirmed to The National that an unknown number of rockets were fired. But it was unclear where they had landed.
Unifil launched an investigation into the incident and urged “maximum restraint to prevent further escalation”.
Lebanon and Israel have been technically at war since the foundation of Israel in 1948.
The Lebanese Army issued a statement in the early hours of Friday saying that they had found three rockets in the Palestinian camp of Rashidieh, five kilometres south of Tyre. An army representative said the discovery was not linked to the rocket launch.
No individual or group has yet claimed responsibility and Lebanese security officials made arrest announcements.
Al Rashidieh camp is under the control of Palestinian party Fatah, which The National could not reach for comment. A Hamas official said the group had no knowledge of the incident.
Various Palestinian groups are represented in Lebanon's 12 official refugee camps, from which the Lebanese Army has been barred since the country's 1975-1990 civil war. These groups do not participate in national politics.
Anis Mohsen, a Palestinian journalist and human rights activist with family members in Al Rashidieh camp, said that the launch of the rockets was “just a personal action”.
“The rockets launched looked very old. These kinds of rockets can be found anywhere in the camp. So, it’s not a big deal,” he said.
In case of a war in the region, would the Israeli defence systems be capable of intercepting thousands of rockets?
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah
Mr Mohsen said Palestinian officials were rumoured to have stopped several people involved in the launch. Officials usually hand over detainees to the Lebanese Army.
Palestinian factions in Lebanon have tried to stay under the radar since the end of the civil war, which they are still widely blamed for igniting. One exception is the small Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command, which is not part of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and is aligned with Damascus. Israeli raids targeted the group's positions in east Lebanon in the summer of 2019.
The Lebanese political party Hezbollah is the strongest power-broker in the region. Allied with Iran and Hamas, Hezbollah has representatives in the Lebanese government and parliament and operates a powerful military wing that is present in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Hezbollah told Lebanese media that it had nothing to do with the rockets launched on Thursday night.
“Considering how embarrassed everyone is [by the incident], this might indicate solo action,” said Karim El Mufti, professor of political science at Saint Joseph University in Beirut.
“I’m sure that everything is being done under the co-ordination of Hezbollah so that there is no interference in the southern [Lebanon] front so far,” he said.
But the launch could also represent a "warning shot", he said.
"A lot of anti-Israeli factions in the region, including Hezbollah, could be aiming to put more pressure on Israel and the Biden administration in return for non-intervention in the Israel-Palestine conflict," he said.
US President Joe Biden has so far adopted a policy of avoiding engagement in Middle East issues, including the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Arab diplomats told The National this week that Washington had ignored their urgent warnings about a crisis building up in Jerusalem for weeks.
Hezbollah's role is "to hold the front" unless Iran decides to escalate tension, said Prof El Mufti. Israeli media regularly claim that Hezbollah hides hundreds of thousands of rockets in Lebanon, ready to fire at Israel.
In a speech on Tuesday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah praised Hamas for confronting Israel.
“In case of a war in the region, would the Israeli defence systems be capable of intercepting thousands of rockets?” he said.
For Prof El Mufti, Iran is using Hezbollah's military strength as a "bargaining chip" amid the ongoing clashes.
“Iran will use the war to advance its pawns with the Biden administration," he said. "Non-interference is a sign of goodwill. But the question is: what will they get in return?”
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
World Cricket League Division 2
In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.
UAE fixtures
Thursday February 8, v Kenya; Friday February 9, v Canada; Sunday February 11, v Nepal; Monday February 12, v Oman; Wednesday February 14, v Namibia; Thursday February 15, final
Honeymoonish
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Arabian Gulf League fixtures:
Friday:
- Emirates v Hatta, 5.15pm
- Al Wahda v Al Dhafra, 5.25pm
- Al Ain v Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, 8.15pm
Saturday:
- Dibba v Ajman, 5.15pm
- Sharjah v Al Wasl, 5.20pm
- Al Jazira v Al Nasr, 8.15pm
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2015%20PRO%20MAX
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THREE
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Teenage%20Mutant%20Ninja%20Turtles%3A%20Shredder's%20Revenge
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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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Company%20profile
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Pathaan
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UAE%20medallists%20at%20Asian%20Games%202023
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Fifa%20World%20Cup%20Qatar%202022%20
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The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 720hp
Torque: 770Nm
Price: Dh1,100,000
On sale: now
MATCH INFO
Everton 0
Manchester City 2 (Laporte 45 2', Jesus 90 7')
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
'Top Gun: Maverick'
Rating: 4/5
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Unresolved crisis
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
MATCH INFO
Manchester United v Manchester City, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match is on BeIN Sports