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A three-star general has returned to the US after spending several days advising the Israeli military as it prepared to increase its ground operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Pentagon said on Monday.
Lt Gen James Glynn, who helped to lead special forces as they battled ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and who saw fierce fighting in Fallujah during the Iraq War, is one of a team of senior US officers sent to advise Israel.
As the civilian death toll in Gaza soars, he gave advice to Israeli leaders on how to try to avoid civilian casualties and offered experience from his years of urban warfare, the Pentagon said.
“Lt Gen Glynn was one of a few officials with a relevant experience who the Department of Defence asked to help Israeli officials think through difficult questions that they need to consider as they conduct their planning,” a senior US defence official said.
His trip was “intended to offer observations informed by extensive military expertise and pose hard questions to the [Israel military] as they think through various scenarios.”
The Biden administration has repeatedly stressed its unequivocal support for Israel as it attacks the Gaza Strip, sometimes with US munitions.
But the death toll in the densely populated Palestinian territory is forcing the Pentagon to urge the Israeli military take civilian life more into consideration when planning strikes.
The Gaza Health Ministry on Monday said the death toll among Palestinians passed 8,300 people, mostly women and children.
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin is having “near daily” conversations with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said, with civilian lives a topic of conversation.
“The way I would say we've been interacting with the [Israeli military], and certainly with Minister Gallant, is asking the questions that we would ask ourselves on how to best preserve civilian lives on the ground, but also helping them understand how complicated urban warfare is,” Ms Singh said.
Israel intensifies attack on Gaza – in pictures
US officials stressed that the Israeli military is making its own decisions, and American officers are neither directing nor advising operations.
The US has plenty of experience when it comes to high civilian death tolls during military campaigns.
According to an AP investigation, as many as 10,000 people were killed during the eight-month siege to liberate Mosul from ISIS.
This included at least 3,200 civilians from air strikes, artillery fire or mortar rounds between October 2016 and the fall of ISIS in July 2017.
About the same number of civilians were killed or taken hostage and used as human shields by militants as they fled the city, AP reported.
The situation in Gaza poses a seemingly intractable problem for Israeli military planners who have vowed to wipe out Hamas.
The militant group has a network of tunnels. Fighting will be a gruelling, building-by-building slog, in the sort of booby-trap-infested urban environment as was seen by US forces fighting insurgents in the second Battle of Fallujah in 2004.
“We have lessons learnt from urban warfare, whether it's in Mosul or in Fallujah.," Ms Singh said.
"So that was one of the things that Gen Glynn brought to the table, of just how complicated urban warfare can be, and asking the right questions of the Israelis on in terms of their planning and how they were thinking through their operations."
Israel says Hamas uses schools and hospitals, making them legitimate military targets. But for every civilian killed, Israel draws increased global condemnation for what critics see as a heavy-handed campaign.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday defended his decision to escalate the offensive with a ground push into Gaza, which families of the more than 200 hostages held by Hamas have criticised for endangering their relatives.
“We think this method stands a chance” of securing the release of the captives, Mr Netanyahu said.
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Last-16 Europa League fixtures
Wednesday (Kick-offs UAE)
FC Copenhagen (0) v Istanbul Basaksehir (1) 8.55pm
Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm
Inter Milan v Getafe (one leg only) 11pm
Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm
Thursday
Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm
Sevilla v Roma (one leg only) 8.55pm
FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm
Wolves (1) Olympiakos (1) 11pm
The biog
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- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
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- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
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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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Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
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- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
