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Gaza ceasefire mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US were locked in delicate talks with Hamas and Israeli officials on Wednesday, looking for ways to bridge the gap in the discussions, sources told The National.
In Israel, an official was quoted by Reuters as saying he saw no sign of a breakthrough in the talks taking place in Egypt to reach a truce that would bring about freedom for hostages and prisoners held by Hamas and Israel, respectively.
The sources, however, said the main focus of the negotiations was the “slow and gradual” rate at which Hamas wanted to release the 130 hostages it has, to which Israel is objecting.
Hamas wants to stagger the release over a long period to use them as bargaining chips until its key demands – full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a permanent ceasefire and the unconditional return home of Palestinians displaced by the war – are met by Israel, the sources said.
Hamas, they said, fears that without guarantees from Qatar, the US and Egypt, Israel would resume military operations in Gaza if the hostages were freed too soon.
Israel has already declared a three-phase proposal approved by Hamas on Monday was unacceptable because some terms had been softened.
CIA director William Burns, who has been acting as chief US negotiator, left Egypt on Wednesday and was in Israel meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about a possible suspension of Israel’s military operation in Gaza's southern city of Rafah on the Egyptian border, the sources said.
White House spokesman John Kirby has said Hamas’s revised proposal to pause the war suggest the remaining gaps can "absolutely be closed".
According to Hamas officials and the sources, the proposal that Hamas approved on Monday included a first phase with a six-week ceasefire, an influx of aid to Gaza, the return of 33 Israeli hostages, alive or dead, and the release by Israel of 30 detained Palestinian children and women for each released Israeli hostage.
Since the only pause in the conflict so far, a week-long ceasefire in November, Hamas has refused to free more Israeli hostages without a promise of a permanent end to the conflict, while Israel has insisted it would discuss only a temporary halt to hostilities.
The Gaza war began when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 and abducting about 250 others, according to Israeli tallies.
Hamas official Osama Hamdan, speaking to reporters in Beirut on Tuesday, warned if Israel's military aggression continued in Rafah, there would be no truce agreement.
Israel's military said it was conducting a limited operation in Rafah to kill fighters and dismantle infrastructure used by Hamas, which has run Gaza since 2007.
It has ordered civilians there to go to an "expanded humanitarian zone" 20km away.
In Geneva, UN humanitarian office spokesman Jens Laerke said "panic and despair" were gripping the people in Rafah.
The impact of an offensive on Rafah will have disastrous effects for more than 1 million people, Aurelie Godard, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) team leader in Gaza, said on Wednesday.
"Living conditions all over Gaza are already extremely precarious," she added. "They will just get worse for people who are being displaced again and will have to live in makeshift tents with extremely limited access to basic necessities such as water."
Israel reclosed Kerem Abu Salem crossing on its border with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, after opening it briefly, allowing only one fuel lorry to enter the enclave.
Israel had closed the border point on Sunday after a Palestinian shelling attack nearby killed four soldiers.
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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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Director: Hasan Hadi
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Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
