Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Friday ruled out Israel's participation in a de-escalation initiative proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron, accusing Paris of being hostile towards Israel.
Mr Macron said on Thursday that France, the US and Israel would form a contact group to work on defusing tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border.
“As we fight a just war, defending our people, France has adopted hostile policies against Israel,” Mr Gallant said. “Israel will not be a party to the trilateral framework proposed by France.”
He accused France of ignoring “the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israeli children, women and men”, referring to the Palestinian armed group's incursion into southern Israel on October 7.
Last month France blocked Israeli defence companies from participating in a major arms show in Paris. France has also condemned Israeli attacks on Rafah in Gaza.
Mr Gallant's rejection of the French proposal came amid heightened cross-border attacks between Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and the Israeli military.
Hezbollah said it fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel on Friday in response to an overnight Israeli strike on a residential building in south Lebanon that killed two civilians and injured several others, including children.
The group said it fired Katyusha rockets and Falaq missiles at the area around the border town of Kiryat Shmona.
Israeli emergency services reported dealing with a string of fires in northern Israel after the attacks.
The two women killed in the Israeli strike were identified as Sally Sakiki and Dalal Ezzeddine. A political source close to Hezbollah told The National that everyone in the building was a civilian.
The three-storey residential building is between the towns of Jannata and Deir Qanoun En Nahr. Hospitals in the area issued a call for blood donations to help the injured, who included women and children.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati hit out at what he described as Israel's “destructive and terrorist aggression to which the international community must put an end”.
Israel has repeatedly launched attacks against Hezbollah since hostilities broke out between them on October 8, with civilians killed in the cross-border violence.
The target of Israel's latest strike was not immediately clear. It comes as the conflict, running in parallel with the war in Gaza, continues to intensify.
The Israeli military said on Friday two soldiers were injured “as a result of an anti-tank projectile attack in the area of Manara” on Thursday.
Hezbollah launched attacks on northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights on Thursday in response to the killing of a senior commander.
The Iran-backed group fired missiles at six Israeli military sites and used squadrons of drones in an attack on three Israeli bases. Targets included the main intelligence base in northern Israel.
Hezbollah, which announced more strikes overnight, said the attacks were “part of the response to the assassination” of its commander, Taleb Sami Abdallah, on Tuesday.
Mr Abdallah is among 300 Hezbollah fighters killed since the conflict broke out in October, but is one of only two who Hezbollah has formally referred to as a commander.
The Israeli government warned it would hit back at attacks from the Lebanese group. “Israel will respond with force to all aggressions by Hezbollah,” government spokesman David Mencer said.
He added that Israel would “restore security on our northern border”.
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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
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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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Karnataka Tuskers 110-5 (10 ovs)
Tharanga 48, Shafiq 34, Rampaul 2-16
Delhi Bulls 91-8 (10 ovs)
Mathews 31, Rimmington 3-28
Karnataka Tuskers win by 19 runs
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