Many international brands are boycotted like KFC © Mena Today
On a recent evening in Cairo, a worker cleaned tables in an empty McDonald's restaurant. Branches of other Western fast-food chains in the Egyptian capital also appeared deserted.
All have been hit by a largely spontaneous, grassroots boycott campaign over Israel's military offensive in the Gaza strip since the deadly Hamas attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Western brands are feeling the impact in Egypt and Jordan, and there are signs the campaign is spreading in some other Arab countries including Kuwait and Morocco.
Participation has been uneven with only minor effects seen in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Israel said it launched a broad wave of strikes in central Tehran on Sunday and was seeking to dominate the skies over the capital, after its air force killed Iran's supreme leader in a large-scale assault that has raised fears of widening instability in the Middle East.
For decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran has said, loudly and repeatedly, that it wants Israel wiped from the face of the earth. The world mostly nodded, filed the rhetoric away, and moved on. Israel could not afford to.
Israel said it launched a pre-emptive attack against Iran on Saturday, pushing the Middle East into a renewed military confrontation and further dimming hopes for a diplomatic solution to Tehran's long-running nuclear dispute with the West.
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