A Lebanese man collects books from a house that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike, in Mansouri village, south Lebanon, on Wednesday. AP
A Lebanese man collects books from a house that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike, in Mansouri village, south Lebanon, on Wednesday. AP
A Lebanese man collects books from a house that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike, in Mansouri village, south Lebanon, on Wednesday. AP
A Lebanese man collects books from a house that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike, in Mansouri village, south Lebanon, on Wednesday. AP

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MENA

One civilian and two Hezbollah fighters killed in intense overnight Israeli fire

Violence between the Lebanese group and Israel has escalated in recent days

The National

April 18, 2024

  • English
  • Arabic

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One civilian and two Hezbollah fighters were killed by Israeli fire during intense bombardment of the southern Lebanese towns of Khiam and Kafrkala overnight into Thursday, following a Hezbollah attack that injured 14 Israeli soldiers.

Khiam residents identified the dead civilian as Ahmed Hassan Al Ahmad, a Bedouin shepherd who had been visiting the town. An official for local civil defence association the Risala Scouts said paramedics found him dead at the scene.

Hezbollah said two of its fighters were killed in the strikes on Kafrkala, naming them as Ali Ahmad Hamadeh and Mohammed Jamil Shami. Lebanon’s state news agency said they were killed by drone strikes at dawn.

Khiam was targeted in a series of Israeli air raids followed by a barrage of more than 100 artillery and phosphorous shells overnight in a significant escalation, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

Photos circulating on social media showed the extent of the bombardment, with the town – which is usually on the outskirts of direct fire – lighting up from the falling phosphorus shells.

Israel’s bombardment came after 14 of its soldiers were injured, six of them severely, in an attack claimed by Hezbollah on Wednesday. The group said it attacked a military reconnaissance headquarters in the village of Arab Al Aramshe.

The Iran-allied party said the attack, using guided missiles and drones, was in retaliation for Israel’s “assassination of a number of resistance fighters” the day before, when a senior field commander and two fighters were killed in strikes on the Lebanese towns of Ain Baal and Shehabieh.

Israel and Hezbollah, along with allied armed groups, have been engaged in a violent conflict since October 8, a day after Israel launched its military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah says it is carrying out the attacks in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas in Gaza.

Border towns on both sides of the Lebanon-Israel frontier, on the front line of the conflict, have largely been vacated. Tens of thousands of people remain displaced in both countries.

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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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Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.

Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.

Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

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Updated: April 18, 2024, 11:03 AM
LebanonIsraelHezbollah