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Hezbollah unleashed a multipronged attack on sites in northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights on Thursday.
The Iran-backed group said it fired missiles at six Israeli military sites, including a barracks, in a co-ordinated attack the day after it launched a barrage of rockets from southern Lebanon.
Simultaneously, it also launched several squadrons of assault drones at positions in northern Israel, including the main intelligence base in northern Israel that Hezbollah said was responsible for the assassinations of its fighters.
The Israeli military said approximately 40 projectiles were launched towards the Galilee and Golan Heights area.
Two people were wounded by shrapnel, Israel's national ambulance service said, and a number of wildfires were set off by rockets that landed in open areas.
Hezbollah pledged to intensify its attacks on Israel after the assassination of a senior commander on Tuesday night.
The Lebanese armed group, which is also a political party, said its attacks came in response to the Israeli strike on the south Lebanese village of Jouaiya, about 15km from the Israeli border, that killed Taleb Sami Abdallah, also known as Abu Taleb, and three other members of Hezbollah.
“Our response after the martyrdom of Abu Taleb will be to intensify our operations in severity, strength, quantity and quality,” said senior Hezbollah official Hashem Saffieddine at the funeral of Mr Abdallah on Wednesday.
His remarks came after Hezbollah had already fired more than 200 rockets on northern Israel, its largest barrage yet since hostilities broke out along the Lebanese-Israeli border area on October 8.
“Let the enemy wait for us in the battlefield,” he added.
There were no immediate reports of casualties. Some projectiles were intercepted, while others ignited brush fires.
Fires have become common on both sides of the border as the dry summer heat has begun.
“It is natural that Abu Taleb was a permanent target,” Mr Saffieddine said of the commander, the most senior Hezbollah leader to be killed since October.
Mr Abdallah is among 300 Hezbollah fighters to have been killed since the conflict broke out, but one of only two who the group has formally referred to as a commander.
More information has since been released about Mr Abdallah, who was the commander of the Nasr Unit, which is responsible for part of the border area.
He was described by Mr Saffieddine as an important leader in the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war, the last time the two sides fought a full-on conflict.
Israel has upped military drills on the border, some of which involve brigades withdrawn from Gaza, the army announced on Thursday.
“In the last two weeks, a series of brigade exercises were carried out in which the troops were trained for different combat patterns in the northern arena,” it said in a statement, publishing images of soldiers training with weapons.
“The exercise simulated a combat scenario at varying ranges, while emphasising the capabilities of movement in a tangled terrain, progress along a mountainous route, the use of multi-scale fire and combat in different areas,” it added.
G7 'concerned'
The conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border was also the subject of discussions in Baghdad and Italy on Thursday.
Iraq and Iran's foreign ministers discussed the “dangerous signs” of Israel possibly attacking Lebanon, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said after meeting with visiting Iranian Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani.
“If there is an attack on southern Lebanon, God forbid, it will affect the whole region,” Mr Hussein said during a press conference in Baghdad. He warned that “expanding the war is not only a danger to Lebanon but to the entire region”.
Mr Bagheri Kani said “the Zionists, due to their failure in Gaza, might make another mistake and expand their aggression”. Both countries called for an immediate ceasefire in the continuing war in Gaza. Iran is a key backer of Hezbollah.
Ahead of a G7 meeting in Puglia, where a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was top of the agenda, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the situation in Lebanon would also be discussed.
US President Joe Biden would discuss “the increasing intensity and scope of the strikes by Hezbollah deeper into Israel, and including into civilian areas”, Mr Sullivan said, adding that a ceasefire in Gaza would help bring calm to that region as well.
Hezbollah says it is carrying out the attacks in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has undertaken a brutal bombardment that has killed more than 37,100 people. Hezbollah says it will not end its attacks until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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.”
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,200m, Winner: ES Rubban, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ibrahim Aseel (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: Al Mobher, Sczcepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m, Winner: Jabalini, Tadhg O’Shea, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m, Winner: AF Abahe, Tadgh O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: AF Makerah, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Law Of Peace, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
