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More than 800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Ramadan began on March 11, showing the stark human cost of failed attempts by the US and others to secure a ceasefire before the holy month.
Civilians have continued to bear the brunt of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, despite the onset of Ramadan, usually a time for reflection and family gatherings.
Between the morning of March 11 and the afternoon of March 21, a total of 876 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, according to data from the Gaza Ministry of Health.
A further 1,428 people were injured, reported the Hamas-run ministry, which provides daily casualty updates that are considered broadly reliable by the UN and other humanitarian agencies.
The data is based on hospital data and does not distinguish between civilian and militant casualties.
The ministry had reported a total of 31,112 Palestinians killed in Gaza and 72,760 injured between the outbreak of the war on October 7 and the morning of Ramadan on March 11, which had risen to 31,988 killed and 74,188 injured by the afternoon of March 21.
The latest numbers came as yet another round of negotiations to reach a truce took place in Doha, after several rounds of failed talks.
US President Joe Biden had repeatedly called for a ceasefire to be introduced before Ramadan.
“There's got to be a ceasefire because if we get into circumstances where this continues to Ramadan, Israel and Jerusalem could be very, very dangerous,” he said early this month.
However, his pleas fell on deaf ears, with Israel and Hamas unable to agree to a truce deal despite pressure from US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Instead, fighting has continued through the holy month at a fatal cost to people in Gaza.
The most deadly 24 hours since Ramadan began were overnight on March 14 into March 15, when 149 people were killed and 300 injured. The next day, the first Friday of Ramadan, an Israeli air strike reportedly killed 36 members of an extended family as they gathered together to celebrate in central Gaza.
Israel claimed to have killed 90 "terrorists" during a raid on Al Shifa Hospital in the second week of Ramadan. These numbers were not factored into the Gaza Ministry of Health totals here.
On the Israeli side, the army reported three soldiers have been killed and 22 injured since the beginning of Ramadan. The total number of soldiers killed since October 7 is 251, with 1,496 injured, according to the UN.
This does not include deaths and injuries on October 7 itself, when a Hamas-led attack killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took about 250 back to Gaza as hostages.
The war has also sparked a rise in violence in the occupied West Bank.
There were fears that without a ceasefire before Ramadan, the West Bank was at risk of exploding, with tensions centred on Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.
Prayer at the mosque, particularly during Ramadan, is deeply important to many Palestinians and Israeli police restrictions on access to the site have led to violence on a number of occasions.
So far, there has not been a significant upsurge in violence and prayers have passed off without major incidents. About 15 Palestinians have been killed and about 30 injured across the West Bank since Ramadan began.
However, with the holy month less than halfway through, the risk of escalation remains.
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
All Black 39-12 British & Irish Lions
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New Zealand 57-0 South Africa
Tries: Rieko Ioane, Nehe Milner-Skudder (2), Scott Barrett, Brodie Retallick, Ofa Tu'ungfasi, Lima Sopoaga, Codie Taylor. Conversions: Beauden Barrett (7). Penalty: Beauden Barrett
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.”
Profile
Company: Libra Project
Based: Masdar City, ADGM, London and Delaware
Launch year: 2017
Size: A team of 12 with six employed full-time
Sector: Renewable energy
Funding: $500,000 in Series A funding from family and friends in 2018. A Series B round looking to raise $1.5m is now live.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 390bhp
Torque: 400Nm
Price: Dh340,000 ($92,579
Dunki
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Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
