Israel and Egypt face pressure to relieve humanitarian crisis in Gaza

Newsletter

17 Oct 2023

Israel and Egypt face pressure to relieve humanitarian crisis in Gaza. International pressure has mounted on Israel and Egypt to relieve the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip as US secretary of state Antony Blinken continues efforts to prevent the war with Hamas from spreading further. The US and other countries have been pushing Israel to allow aid into Gaza and Egypt to open the Rafah crossing between its territory and the south of the enclave. Ahead of returning to Israel on Monday after a tour that took in Egypt and the Gulf states, Blinken said the shared international priority was “to prevent the conflict from spreading, to safeguard innocent lives, and to get assistance to those in Gaza who need it”. (Financial Times)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Monday it was pushing “at the highest levels” for humanitarian access via Rafah.
The UN says 600,000 people in Gaza have already fled to the south of the territory, in line with Israeli instructions to leave the enclave’s main city, and are “in increasingly dire conditions”. But, despite reports that Rafah could open at 9am local time on Monday, diplomats and security officials said no deal had been reached between Israel and Egypt, and the border had not opened as of 12.00 local time. Israel and Hamas also denied reports that a temporary ceasefire had been agreed to allow aid into the strip. The office of Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “There is currently no ceasefire for humanitarian aid in Gaza in return for the exit of foreigners.” (Financial Times)
Egypt wants to host a summit to address the conflict in Gaza, with El Sisi looking to invite regional and world leaders to Cairo to discuss “the developments and future of the Palestinian issue,”
Ittihadiya said yesterday following a meeting of the National Security Council. There’s no word yet on when the summit will take place or who’s on the invite list. Blinken declined to confirm whether the US would attend the summit when asked in an interview yesterday, saying only that the US “welcomes any efforts’ to resolve the conflict. (Asharq Business)
Israel has “over-extended the right to self-defense and turned into collective punishment for 2.3 mn people in Gaza,” El Sisi told Blinken in public comments before their meeting.
El Sisi said that Egypt “unequivocally” condemns the massacre of Israeli civilians by Hamas but said that at the root of the crisis is “accumulated fury and hatred” caused by the occupation. The US will not back calls from Israel to resettle thousands of Gazans in Egypt, Blinken said. Blinken has been on a whistle-stop tour of Arab capitals over the past week for talks with regional leaders, most of whom have publicly condemned plans to force Palestinians out of Gaza. (Al Arabiya)
Thousands of people are without shelter, with an estimated 1 million people displaced by the conflict, more than 600,000 of whom have fled Gaza City since Friday.
Almost 2,700 people in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s bombing campaign and another 9,600 wounded, according to the latest figures from the Palestinian health ministry. This is up from just over 2,200 the day before. About 1,300 Israelis died and more than 3,000 were wounded in Hamas’ attack on 7 October. The Israeli military said last sunday that it had confirmed that Hamas was holding 155 people hostage, an increase from its previous 126 estimate. (Financial Times)
Qatari and Israeli officials have been in Cairo in recent days to push for Palestinians to be allowed into the country, while a number of European leaders have spoken with El Sisi on the subject.
Danny Ayalon, a former Israeli ambassador to the US, threatened that Egypt “will have to play ball” with the plans if it wants to avert a humanitarian disaster. A large number of Egyptian MPs delivered speeches in the House yesterday condemning Israeli aggression and rejecting the displacement of Palestinians. House Speaker Hanafi Gebaly accused Israel of breaching international law, and warned that its actions could trigger a wider conflict in the region. (Wall Street Journal)
Egypt to establish 5 logistics zones connecting Al Arish, Taba.
Egypt will establish five logistics zones between Al Arish and Taba, to be connected to the eastern borders. The zones include one on the other side of Taba land port, whereas the second will be behind the Al Awja port, and the third will be located in the heavy industries zone in Al Hasana and Labni. The fourth zone will be established in the Negev region near the Negev train station and port, while the fifth one will be set up near Taba sea port, which is linked to the Al Arish port by the railway line. Moreover, three logistics zones will be built in Bir al Abd, Al Tur, and Ras Sudr. (Al Mal)
IFC provides 234 million USD loan to Banque Misr for privately-owned MSMEs.
The International Financial Corporation (IFC) will extend access to finance for privately-owned micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Egypt, including women-led businesses, via a 234 million USD loan to Banque Misr. The deal aims to create job opportunities, boost economic growth, and fill in the gender financing gap. Half of the loan will be directed toward women-owned MSMEs. Marking the IFC’s first gender-lens investment in an Egyptian state-owned bank, the loan comprises 190.7 million USD from the IFC and 43.3 million USD from IFC's Managed Co-Lending Portfolio Program (MCPP) One Planet. (Hapi Journal)
EBRD to offer 325 million USD in financing to 4 Egyptian banks by end-2023.
The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is planning to provide 325 million USD for four Egyptian banks before the end of 2023. The banks are the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), the Commercial International Bank (CIB), Banque du Caire, and the Export Development Bank of Egypt (EBank). The funds will be dedicated to the green and small- and medium-sized projects. The NBE will secure 100 million USD of the total funding to back small- and medium-sized projects, while EBank will obtain 25 million USD to re-lend its customers. (Asharq Business)
China’s Hengsheng Dying Zhejiang to establish 70 million USD textiles factory in Egypt.
The Suez Canal Economic Zone’s (SCZONE) Chairman Waleid Gamal El-Dein has signed a land usufruct right contract with the Chinese Hengsheng Dying Zhejiang to set up a textiles production factory in East Qantara industrial zone with 70 million USD in investments. To be built on a 200,000-square-meter area, the factory is set to create nearly 1,500 job opportunities. (Arab Finance)
Trade Minister Ahmed Samir was in Turkey to meet with companies working in textiles, paper, real estate, and other industries and promote investment in Egypt.
Textile and real estate company Eroglu Holding wants to expand one of its existing textile factories in Damietta to bring annual production to 50 million meters of fabric and yearly sales to 150 million USD. The company also wants to set up a 300 million USD polyester and nylon factory on 500k sq m in the Suez Canal with the aim of achieving 200 million USD in annual sales. The company is also mulling over opening a mattress factory at a cost of 200 million USD to both serve local demand and export to Africa. (Asharq Business)
Also, a Turkish Hygiene and sanitary products company Hayat hopes to open three additional factories in the country.
A 70 million USD paper tissue factory is on the cards, as is a 35 million USD industrial detergents plant, and a diaper facility of an unspecified size. The company is also studying the possibility of opening a paper factory that uses our abundant date palms as the main raw material. The company has been operating here since 2012 and has invested 550 million USD so far in its Egypt operations. (Asharq Business)
Moreover, clothing giant LC Waikiki wants to open a factory in one of our freezones to take advantage of the incentives on offer.
On the high street (and malls), the Turkish company wants to expand to 100 stores in five years, more than double the 38 it currently has. Its total investments here currently stand at 100 million USD. In addition, a clothing company T&C is looking to expand its total factory footprint here to 100k sq m. The company already employs 6.5k people. And last but not least, for the sweet tooths out there, Turkish confectionery company Kervan is aiming to expand its current factory by over 50% to 50k sq m. (Asharq Business & Enterprise)
FRA develops Egypt’s 1st life insurance actuarial tables.
The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has finished developing Egypt’s first actuarial tables for life insurance to assist companies in pricing their products efficiently. The Egyptian actuarial life tables aim to boost the companies’ capacities in pricing their life insurance documents in accordance with the latest relevant data and the best international practices. Egypt is the first Arab country to have actuarial life tables of its own after depending on English actuarial tables, which have been set since 1967, FRA’s Chairman Mohamed Farid said. (Arab Finance)