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The family of the youngest hostage being held captive by Hamas in Gaza has appealed for all captives not to be forgotten following an escalation of the war with Israel’s ground attack on Lebanon.
Kfir Bibas was eight months old when Hamas militants took him captive along with his four-year-old brother Ariel, mother Shiri and father Yarden from the Nir Oz kibbutz.
They were among more than 200 people seized and 1,200 people killed in the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year. This triggered a war in which more than 41,00 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli bombardment of Gaza and a ceasefire deal that remains elusive.
Kfir's aunt Ofri Bibas-Levy and other relatives said Israel’s recent attacks on Lebanon have sparked yet more concern and urged world leaders and the Israeli government to work for a ceasefire that includes the hostages as the one-year anniversary approaches.
“I feel in some way the hostage situation has been put to the back,” Ms Bibas-Levy said in a virtual conference organised this week by the Hostages Families Forum.
Kfir and Ariel don’t have a political point of view, those are two minor children who need to be saved
Yifat Zailer,
aunt of Kfir and Ofri, who are being held by Hamas
“That’s why we are trying to talk everywhere, to keep reminding that whatever is going on in the north we still have 101 hostages in Gaza waiting for us to rescue them and they cannot be forgotten.”
As the anniversary of the October 7 attacks approaches, just 117 hostages have been freed, 78 of those Israeli women and children have been released.
Last children in captivity
Ms Bibas-Levy, Yarden’s sister, said she hoped for a ceasefire agreement that included both Gaza and Lebanon.
“What I ask for all the leaders of the world that are pushing for a ceasefire in Lebanon, it cannot be done without including the hostages in it,” she said.
“We cannot leave them behind. We cannot sacrifice them. For me, if Lebanon goes to ceasefire without the hostages it’s like a death sentence for my family. So I’m really hoping the Israeli government, all the negotiators will find a solution that will include the north and south together.”
For the Bibas family, the spotlight has been unrelenting due to Kfir being the youngest hostage. The family also mourned the deaths of Shiri’s parents who were killed when their home was razed by Hamas on October 7.
In videos of the October 7 attack, a distraught Shiri holds her two redhead boys and is surrounded by Hamas gunmen during the assault on the kibbutz. Later, security camera footage shows the mother and two boys being bundled into a car by Hamas militia in Khan Younis.
Hamas also released a video of a sobbing Yarden Bibas being told that his wife and children died in an Israeli strike. The Israel Defence Force have said the information was not verified and accused Hamas of “psychological terror”.
“Our family became famous, if you can call it that, on the first day when Shiri and the boys’ pictures and video were published. Unfortunately, maybe because of that, they are still there. They are the last children still in captivity,” Ms Bibas-Levy said.
"For an entire year, you have like a stone sitting on your heart. You can't breathe properly, you can't live your life. My heart and my thoughts are always with them – trying to think what else we can do to bring them back.”
Children who need to be saved
There have been numerous demonstrations in Israel calling for a ceasefire. Rallies planned this week in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were cancelled as the Israeli government cited the security situation following Houthi strikes and the recent barrage of about 200 missiles by Iran.
After the October 7 attack, the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia based in Lebanon announced it would support its ally Hamas and fired rockets into Israel. That has escalated into an all-out war in Lebanon.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,974 people and displaced up to a million in Lebanon over the past year. The Israeli army this week began a ground invasion in south Lebanon.
The Bibas family spoke of the continued support among the Israeli public and officials for an end to the war.
Yifat Zailer, a cousin of Shiri Bibas, said on October 7 the family would pay their respects to Shiri’s parents at their grave and take part in a ceremony at the Nir Or kibbutz, one of the worst communities hit in the Hamas attack.
“I was raised to know that peace is possible and then October 7 happened,” Ms Zailer said.
“But people that I meet, politicians also tell us behind the camera that they support the ceasefire, they understand that returning the hostages – this is the best way to save lives.
“We are here to remind everyone, here in Israel and in the world, that the hostages are not a political issue, saving lives is not a political issue. Kfir and Ariel don’t have a political point of view, those are two minor children who need to be saved.”
The family said they gained strength from remembering the hostages and celebrating milestones such as Kfir’s first and Ariel’s fifth birthdays.
“We need to raise our children not to hate and not to be afraid for the future here in the Middle East,” Ms Zailer said.
“I hope that Kfir and Ariel can come back and recover from this because until they come back we can’t recover our family.”
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
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Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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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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