Indirect Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal negotiations between Israel and Hamas resumed on Sunday in the Qatari capital, ahead of a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington.
The talks come two days after Hamas gave a “positive” response to a proposed ceasefire and hostage deal that envisages a 60-day truce, the release of 10 living hostages held by the group as well the remains of 18 others who died in captivity, according to a draft text of the deal seen by The National.
If a deal is reached in the coming hours, US President Donald Trump is expected to announce the ceasefire on Monday, sources told The National. The announcement will include a call on Hamas to lay down its arms and for its leaders to leave the war-torn enclave and live in exile, they added.
“He will call on Hamas to lay down its arms and release all the hostages if it wants a permanent ceasefire,” one source said.
The proposals include a provision for discussions on the end of the war and Israel's withdrawal from Gaza to begin as soon as the truce comes into effect.
An Israeli negotiating team, led by a top official from the domestic Shin Bet security agency, arrived in Doha on Sunday. Also travelling there are officials from Israel's Mossad spy agency, the army's department in charge of hostages and an aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Egypt, which together with the US and Qatar have for months been trying to broker a Gaza ceasefire, was represented by senior officials from its intelligence agency, which has for years been in charge of the Palestinian file, according to the sources.
The US's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is expected in Doha later on Sunday, they added. Hamas negotiators are led by Khalil Al Hayya.
Mr Netanyahu is also set to depart for Washington on Sunday to meet US President Donald Trump, with Gaza expected to dominate discussions in their White House meeting on Monday.
Mr Trump renewed the push to end the war in Gaza that has been raging since October 2023. He has pledged to be firm with Mr Netanyahu and has expressed the hope that the momentum of the ceasefire between Israel and Iran can be used to secure a truce in the Palestinian enclave.
Seeking assurances
Hamas on Friday said while it has given a positive response to the proposed deal it also wanted “assurances” on the implementation of some aspects of it.
“The changes that Hamas is seeking to make in the Qatari proposal were conveyed to us last night and are unacceptable to Israel,” a statement from Mr Netanyahu's office said late on Saturday.
“In light of an assessment of the situation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed that the invitation to proximity talks be accepted and that the contacts for the return of our hostages – on the basis of the Qatari proposal that Israel has agreed to – be continued,” the statement added.
Hamas said it was seeking guarantees from Mr Trump that the war in Gaza would come to a complete end. It is also seeking a timetable for the redeployment of Israeli forces away from the routes that will be used to deliver humanitarian aid during the 60-day truce, said the sources.
It is also seeking assurances that the UN and affiliated agencies will be allowed to resume their decades-old role in delivering and distributing food in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands are facing hunger and the shortage of other basic items, they said.
“We submitted our positive response to the mediators yesterday. A new round of negotiations is expected to begin, focusing on the core issues: Israeli withdrawal and an end to the war,” a Hamas official told The National on Saturday.
The ceasefire efforts come amid continuing Israeli attacks on Gaza and as Palestinians struggle for limited aid supplies.
The US on Saturday blamed Hamas for an attack that injured two American aid workers from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
The US and Israeli-backed GHF said the injured Americans were receiving medical treatment and were in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.
“The attack – which preliminary information indicates was carried out by two assailants who threw two grenades at the Americans – occurred at the conclusion of an otherwise successful distribution in which thousands of Gazans safely received food,” the GHF said.
US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce blamed “Hamas terrorists” for the attack.
The Gaza war was sparked by a Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. The attacks left 1,200 people dead. Another 240 were taken hostage.
It drew a devastating military response from Israel that has to date killed more than 57,000 Palestinians and wounded more than twice that number, according to health authorities in Gaza.
Most of Gaza's approximately two million residents have been displaced by the fighting, more than once in many cases. Israel has also razed large built-up areas of Gaza.
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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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