Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Hamas has promised to carry out more suicide attacks inside Israel after claiming a bombing in the city of Tel Aviv.
A man carrying explosives in a backpack was killed and a passer-by was wounded in the attack launched on Sunday in the city's south-east, Israeli police said. Israeli government representative David Mencer said the man's backpack detonated "before he managed to reach a more heavily populated area".
The incident – the first of its kind in years – shook Israelis.
The attack was claimed on Monday by the armed wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who said in a joint statement they intended to keep carrying out suicide bombings "as long as the occupation's massacres, displacement of civilians and the policy of assassinations continues".
Israeli police and the Shin Bet security agency called the blast a "terror attack involving the explosion of a powerful device".
It came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv in his ninth trip to the region in as many months, saying time was running out for a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and to win the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
“This is a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security,” Mr Blinken said on talks in Cairo this week, alongside Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Mr Herzog said Israel was under threat by "terrorism from all four corners of the earth" in reference to Sunday's attack, adding his country was "fighting back as a resilient and strong nation”.
Mr Blinken also met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, and confirmed that Israel accepts the bridging proposal.
The senior American official, who was making his ninth trip to the region since October 7, said it was now up to Hamas to accept the bridging proposal put forward by the US last week.
“The next important step is for Hamas to say yes, and then in the coming days, for all of the expert negotiators to get together to work on clear understandings on implementing the agreement,” Mr Blinken added.
Protesters gathered outside Mr Blinken's hotel on Monday evening, holding placards begging for US assistance to bring a ceasefire into being and negotiate a return of hostages.
The war in Gaza has killed more than 40,100 people in Gaza since it was sparked by an October 7 Hamas attack on Southern Israel which killed 1,200 people and led to 250 being taken hostage. Israeli authorities said about 110 are still in Gaza, but a third of these may be dead.
Mr Blinken will head from Tel Aviv to Cairo on Tuesday for the renewed talks, but Hamas said progress hailed by the US and Israel in Doha last week was unfounded and that their demands had been ignored. Hamas refused to attend the negotiations, saying Israel must stop bombing Gaza for the duration of any talks.
Sources told The National the process was "shrouded in fog" and unlikely to reach a satisfying conclusion.
Mediators from the US, Egypt and Qatar continue to work on a three-phase process which would involve Hamas freeing the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for a number of Palestinian detainees and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Despite UN Security Council approval of the plan, both sides have proposed amendments, which the other refuses to accept.
UAE squad
Rohan Mustafa (captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan
Bharatanatyam
A ancient classical dance from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Intricate footwork and expressions are used to denote spiritual stories and ideas.
HOW TO WATCH
Facebook: TheNationalNews
Twitter: @thenationalnews
Instagram: @thenationalnews.com
TikTok: @thenationalnews
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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.”
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
