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Lebanese officials are engaged in extensive last-minute diplomatic efforts with western capitals to exert pressure on Israel and prevent it from retaliating for the deadly strike in the occupied Golan Heights, political sources said on Monday.
Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attack on Majdal Shams on Saturday that killed 12 teenagers and children. However, Israel insisted that the Iran-backed Lebanese group was behind the strike and vowed a strong response.
On a visit to the Israeli-occupied village on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised that the "response will come, and it will be harsh".
But Mr Netanyahu's visit was not well-received by residents of Majdal Shams, the vast majority of whom refused to take Israeli citizenship following the annexation of the Golan Heights in 1981. Footage emerged showing dozens of people in the Druze town protesting his visit, chanting "leave, you are not welcome".
Israeli jets and drones struck targets in southern Lebanon on Monday, killing two Hezbollah fighters and injuring three people. But there were expectations of a more severe retaliation after the war cabinet on Sunday evening authorised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant to decide on the manner and timing of the response.
“We are bracing for a response that could be similar to the bombing of the port of Hodeidah [in Yemen] and sites in Iran, without sliding into a wide-scale war, unless something unforeseen happens and things get out of control,” a political source in Beirut said.
“Extensive contacts have been taking place since the attack with several capitals, including Washington, in order to put pressure on Israel to prevent it from expanding the war.”
Another political source in Beirut said that US envoy Amos Hochstein, who has been a key mediator between Lebanon and Israel, told Lebanese officials that “Israel will launch a large-scale operation”.
Saturday's rocket attack struck a football pitch in the mostly Druze village of Majdal Shams. Israel invaded the Syrian territory in 1967 and annexed it in 1981, in a move that was rejected by major world powers.
Hezbollah has attacked Israeli targets in northern Israel and in the Golan Heights as part of a wider, Iranian-led retaliation against Israel for its current war in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 39,300 Palestinians since October 7, including thousands of children.
The war started after Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah and Iran, attacked southern Israeli towns, killing and abducting hundreds.
Evacuation rumours
The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has since October pushed tens of thousands of Israelis away from the border, forcing them to evacuate towns and live in hotels and government centres elsewhere.
Many of those vowed not to return before Hezbollah was pushed away from the border.
Israel has struck dozens of Hezbollah houses and arms depots in Lebanon and Syria. It has also successfully located and assassinated field commanders through its extensive surveillance arms and on-ground agents.
Local media said Hezbollah had, since Saturday, evacuated sites in the southern part of Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley in the east, as well as sites in the Sayyida Zeinab area near Damascus.
But security sources, a local rescue worker, and the mayors of three separate towns in southern Lebanon said no evacuations had taken place in populated areas.
“There are many people who are worried about Israel’s threats. Some people left the village yesterday and went to Beirut,” said Imad Lallous, mayor of the southern town of Ain Ebel.
“However, nothing was ordered by anyone and the decision to stay or go is up to each individual.”
Rumours spread that the deaths in Majdal Shams were caused by an Israeli military air defence interceptor.
Syria also accused Israel but the White House National Security Council stressed that the strike was carried out by Hezbollah.
“This attack was conducted by Lebanese Hezbollah. It was their rocket and launched from an area they control,” NSC spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said on Sunday night.
Despite Hezbollah’s denial, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib said that the strike could have been the result of an “error” by the heavily armed group.
The attack was “carried out by other organisations, an Israeli error, or a Hezbollah error”, he said, calling for an international investigation into the incident.
The last major war between the two occurred 18 years ago. It began in July 2006 and lasted more than a month, resulting in the deaths of about 1,200 Lebanese and 165 Israelis, while also destroying much of Lebanon's infrastructure.
Ahead of Israel's expected retaliation, many international carriers have delayed or cancelled flights to Lebanon. Germany called on its citizens to leave the country and the US Embassy in Beirut reminded citizens to “reconsider travel to Lebanon”, warning those already in the country to take precautions.
Meanwhile, as politicians and diplomats race to contain the escalation, Lebanon's residents have braced for the worst.
“There's fear, but people have nowhere else to go,” said Joseph Salameh, Mayor of the southern Qlayaa village.
“We’re just hoping for the best.”
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
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It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
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Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
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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Secret Pigeon Service: Operation Colomba, Resistance and the Struggle to Liberate Europe
Gordon Corera, Harper Collins
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
