Israeli warplanes hit Syrian army positions near Masyaf in Hama province on Thursday. AP
Israeli warplanes hit Syrian army positions near Masyaf in Hama province on Thursday. AP
Israeli warplanes hit Syrian army positions near Masyaf in Hama province on Thursday. AP
Israeli warplanes hit Syrian army positions near Masyaf in Hama province on Thursday. AP

MENA

Syria

Explosion filmed in Syria's Masyaf as Israel carries out air strikes

City in the north-west of the country has been frequently bombed by Israeli aircraft

The National

March 12, 2023

  • English
  • Arabic

A large explosion was filmed by witnesses on a hillside in Masyaf, Syria on Sunday following a rare daytime air strike by the Israeli air force.

Syrian state news outlet Sana broadcast images of the blast, saying that three Syrian soldiers had been wounded.

The broadcaster showed images of what it said were Israeli missiles that had landed on nearby farmland.

Syria claimed several of the Israeli missiles had been shot down by air defences.

Joe Truzman, an analyst with the US Foundation for Defence of Democracies, posted footage of the air strike on Sunday morning.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, which has staged hundreds of strikes on targets in Syria over the years.

Israel rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations. It says it targets bases of Iran-allied militias, notably Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group. Hezbollah has fighters deployed in Syria and fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s government forces. Israel also says it targets arms shipments believed to be bound for the militias.

Analysts say Syria and Iran intend to open up a third front in a potential clash with Israel, over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which were captured by Israeli forces during the 1973 Middle East war.

Hezbollah is thought to have at least 100,000 rockets and missiles in southern Lebanon, while the Iran-backed Hamas is rebuilding its rocket arsenal following a devastating conflict with Israel in 2021.

While most of these are unguided rockets, Iran-backed groups are improving their arsenals with precision-guided weapons, which has led to increased Israeli bombing raids in Syria to destroy the weapons before they can be deployed or hidden.

Israel previously attacked Masyaf in May and August 2022 killing five people and wounding two. According to the Britain-based opposition war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the attacks targeted weapons depots belonging to Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and Iran-backed militias.

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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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Updated: March 12, 2023, 7:52 AM
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