Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
A pause in Israeli attacks on Gaza began on Sunday morning as the UN began polio vaccinations, hoping to inoculate more than 600,000 children after the disease re-emerged in the strip for the first time in 25 years.
There was no immediate report of morning air strikes on the enclave, where more than 40,700 people have been killed since the war began in October.
Health workers hope to vaccinate at least 90 per cent of children up to 10 years old – an enormous task in the besieged territory, which has been left without a single fully functioning hospital or water sanitation system.
Sunday marks the first of a three-day pause in central Gaza, where the campaign will begin before similar “pauses” are introduced in southern and northern Gaza.
It is the first pause in fighting since a week-long ceasefire in November, which secured the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian detainees held in Israeli jails.
A second round of vaccinations will begin on September 17, aimed at 640,000 children in total, according to the UN children’s fund, Unicef, and Gazan health officials.
More than a million vaccine doses are currently being stored at a warehouse in Deir Al Balah.
Vaccinations will be given at 11 health centres run by both the Health Ministry and UN agencies, while mobile health units will also travel “tent-to-tent” in displacement camps, a Unicef spokesman told The National last week.
From Sunday until Tuesday, the first round of vaccinations will be administered at several points across Deir Al Balah from 6am until 2pm, according to the World Health Organisation.
On Wednesday, teams will tour "low-vaccination neighbourhoods" in the city to check children have been innoculated, while mobile teams will be placed on roads "with high population movement" from Thursday.
Children in Khan Younis, parts of Rafah and southern Deir Al Balah will be vaccinated from Thursday to Sunday, before vaccinations will begin in Gaza city and northern governorates.
Gaza's first case of polio – a 10-month-old baby who has now been paralysed – was confirmed in August, a month after authorities announced the disease had been detected in sewage.
Polio vaccine coverage in the enclave was estimated at 99 per cent in 2022 but had dropped to below 90 per cent at the start of this year, according to Who.
The highly contagious disease, which mostly affects children, is mainly transmitted through contact with contaminated faeces, water or food.
While most cases are asymptomatic, symptoms of the disease can include fever, vomiting and stiffness of the limbs, according to the WHO, while one in 200 patients will be permanently paralysed.
It has largely been eradicated globally but remains endemic in two countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Calls to end the war have only grown since the disease was first declared present in the enclave, but the prospect of a full-scale ceasefire remains distant.
At least four people, including a baby, were killed in strikes on central Gaza on Sunday, according to the official Wafa news agency.
The strikes targeted Gaza city and Al Bureij refugee camp - both of which are located outside of the zone where a "pause" has been declared.
On Saturday, US President Joe Biden said he remains “optimistic” a deal can be reached – a claim the US has repeated throughout failed rounds of negotiations.
“It’s time this war ended … I think we’re on the verge of having an agreement,” he said, confirming ceasefire talks are still taking place.
His comments came as Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six hostages from Gaza's southern city of Rafah overnight, fuelling public anger against the government for continuing the war.
US-Israeli citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the most well-known hostages, was among the dead.
match details
Wales v Hungary
Cardiff City Stadium, kick-off 11.45pm
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
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Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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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.”
