Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman that Israel will not carry out attacks on the Gulf state again, despite previously vowing to pursue Hamas “wherever they are”.
In a three-way phone call that included US President Donald Trump, the Israeli leader expressed regret for a strike on Doha this month that killed five Hamas officials and a Qatari security officer, the White House said. The US said Mr Netanyahu made a commitment that Israel will refrain from launching such an attack again.
“During the call, the Israeli Prime Minister apologised for the attack on Doha and on Qatar's sovereignty,” Qatar's state news agency reported.
Mr Netanyahu said “Israel was targeting terrorists – it wasn't targeting Qatar and, of course, we regretted the loss of the Qatari citizen”. A statement from Israel's Foreign Ministry quoted Mr Netanyahu as saying: “I also want to assure you that Israel has no plan to violate your sovereignty again in the future, and I have made that commitment to the President.”
Israel launched an air strike on a building in the Qatari capital on September 9, saying it was targeting Hamas leaders inside. The attack caused outrage across the region and apparent unease from Mr Trump, who has since sought to offer reassurances to Qatar, a US ally and host of the region's largest American airbase.
Arab leaders have condemned the strike and vowed to respond, but there have been few concrete measures after an emergency summit was convened to discuss the issue.
In Israel, there was broad praise for the strike among far-right politicians, who form a bloc in the Knesset that is vital to Mr Netanyahu’s political survival and who are bitterly opposed to ending the Gaza war. Many of them condemned Mr Netanyahu’s apology.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich quoted British wartime prime minister Winston Churchill and called the “grovelling apology” a “disgrace”.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded by calling the attack in Doha an “important, just and profoundly moral strike” and said Qatar was an “enemy state”.
“It is time to tell the world the truth: Qatar is a state that supports terror, funds terror, and incites terror. No amount of money will wash the terror from its hands,” Mr Ben-Gvir added.
Mr Trump, Sheikh Mohammed and Mr Netanyahu also agreed to “establish a trilateral mechanism to enhance co-ordination, improve communication, resolve mutual grievances and strengthen collective efforts to prevent threats”, the White House said.
They discussed Mr Trump's latest proposal for ending the war in Gaza, the prospects for a more secure Middle East “and the need for greater understanding between their countries”.
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
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.”
