Israel launched a round of strikes on southern Lebanon on Thursday, one day after the countries began direct civilian talks.
Israel claimed the attacks were aimed at Hezbollah weapons storage sites "located in the heart of the civilian population". The military had earlier warned it would strike several areas in the south.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, but official Lebanese media said homes were damaged in the town of Mahrouna.
The Israeli attacks, a near-daily occurrence, came after civilian-led delegations were “sitting at the same table” on Wednesday in an effort to defuse rising tensions.
Mediated by the US, the once-unthinkable talks were held during a meeting of the ceasefire monitoring body at the UN peacekeeping headquarters.
The Lebanese delegation in the talks is led by lawyer and former ambassador to the US Simon Karam, while Israel’s representative is Uri Resnick, deputy director of foreign policy at the country’s National Security Council.
Here's what we know about each envoy:
Simon Karam
Mr Karam was born in 1950 in Jezzine, southern Lebanon. He graduated with a law degree from Saint Joseph University in Beirut and worked as a lawyer before entering public service. He briefly served as governor of Bekaa in 1990 and governor of Beirut in 1991.
In 1992, former Lebanese president Elias Hrawi appointed Mr Karam as Lebanon’s ambassador to Washington. He presented his credentials to US president George H W Bush. He resigned from the role in August 1993 and returned to Lebanon.
The former ambassador is known for his outspoken position against foreign influence in Lebanon and non-state armed groups. He was a founding member of the Qornet Shehwan Gathering, a coalition of prominent Christian political, religious and intellectual figures formed in April 2001 in opposition to Syria’s military and political domination of Lebanon at the time.
Mr Karam was appointed to head Lebanon's civilian delegation in the US-led talks by President Joseph Aoun. He was chosen “for his experience, and because there is a need for a diplomat with political and sovereign expertise”, a source close to the President told The National.
Uri Resnick
Mr Resnick was born in 1970 in Ottawa, Canada, and immigrated to Israel in 1988. He received his PhD in International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2005 and is an associate at the Federmann Centre for Rationality at the Hebrew University.
He teaches courses at several Israeli universities on game theory, foreign policy, strategic planning and public diplomacy.
Mr Resnick joined Israel’s foreign service in 2002 and has served in numerous positions in Israel and abroad, including as policy adviser to Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defence. He has served in diplomatic missions in Dakar, Sofia and Los Angeles, and has worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office in Jerusalem.
He currently serves as consul general of Israel in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Military officers have previously represented the two countries at meetings on operational matters. But the civilian meeting hints at the possibility of wider talks on calming the tension that caused last year's destructive war in Lebanon, with the US playing peacemaker.
Both Israel and Hezbollah have accused each other of violating the ceasefire, which came into effect last November. Israel has since struck Lebanon on a near-daily basis and has threatened broader military action. More than 120 Lebanese civilians have been killed by Israeli fire since last year, according to the UN, and Israel still occupies five key positions in southern Lebanon.
Israel has accused Hezbollah of rearming, without providing evidence. It has intensified its attacks in recent months on what it says are Hezbollah targets and obstructed all reconstruction efforts in the south.
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Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
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Games on BeIN Sports
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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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