Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah jointly voiced their opposition on Thursday to a possible Palestinian exodus as a result of the Gaza war.
The two leaders "affirmed that any attempt at the expulsion to Jordan or Egypt is rejected", official Jordanian TV said after the two men met in Cairo.
They also warned that any expansion of the war, ignited by a surprise attack by Hamas militants in southern Israel that killed about 1,400 people, could "send the region into a slippery slope" and called for the war "to immediately stop," according to the Jordanian TV.
In Cairo, a presidential statement said King Abdullah and President El Sisi "emphasized their rejection of collective punishment like blockading, starving or evicting the Palestinians from their lands ... They also warned against the extreme danger of such plans on regional security."
King Abdullah's visit to Cairo comes days after he toured London, Rome and Berlin to warn of the impact of Israel's retaliation on Gaza, in response to the Hamas attack on October 7.
About 3,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's bombardment of Gaza with one million displaced. The enclave is also suffering a significant humanitarian crisis, with the Israeli blockade denying the Palestinians water, food and fuel.
Attempts to secure aid for Gaza have resulted in aid lorries lined up at the border crossing with Egypt, with relief expected to arrive on Friday.
King Abdullah's surprise visit to Cairo appeared in large part an attempt by Jordan and Egypt to chart the way forward in handling the Gaza conflict and counter the sympathy and support for Israel in the West, particularly in the US.
Both countries maintain ties with Hamas, although Egypt is more connected with the Iranian-backed group because it shares a border with Gaza. Mr El Sisi and the Jordanian monarch also have close ties with President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Jordanian and Egyptian authorities already have issued repeated warnings that any movement of Palestinians across their borders would constitute a national security threat. Although Jordan does not border Gaza, officials in Amman are concerned the war could spread to the West Bank.
For decades, Egypt has criticised Israeli pressure on the Palestinians, fearing it could drive Gaza's 2.3 million residents into the sparsely populated Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt was the first Arab nation to sign a formal peace treaty with Israel in 1979. Jordan, which borders the West Bank and is nominally the official guardian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, followed suit in 1994. Both are US allies and among the top three recipients of American aid.
There has also been a surge in violence in the West Bank that could yet worsen.
Egypt and Jordan, generally viewed as moderate, drew closer in recent years, seeking with Iraq to lay the foundation of an economic alliance that would complement each other's economy as well as energy resources.
They have used close ties with the US. Relations with Israel and Palestinian factions have seen them become the most active Arab interlocutors in years of on-and-off negotiations in a bid to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Israel and its two other Arab neighbours - Syria and Lebanon - are officially at war.
Some fear more Palestinian refugees would upset a social balance overseen by King Abdullah between those who since 1948 have been coming from Palestine and tribes who were a cornerstone of Jordan's founding as a British protectorate in 1921.
Most of Jordan's 10 million population are descendants of refugees who fled the conflict surrounding Israel's creation in 1948 and Israeli expansion after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Khaled Yacoub Oweis contribute to this story from Amman.
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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
England ODI squad
Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
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The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
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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NBA Finals results
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