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.
The French Foreign Ministry on Tuesday expressed concern over what it called the “heavy toll paid by local journalists” in Gaza, urging Israeli authorities to guarantee “safe and unimpeded access” for international journalists to the enclave.
Iranian police arrested as many as 21,000 "suspects" during the country's 12-day war with Israel in June, a law enforcement spokesperson said on Tuesday, according to state media.
Israeli planes and tanks kept bombarding eastern areas of Gaza City overnight, killing at least 11 people, witnesses and medics said on Tuesday, with Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya due in Cairo for talks to revive a U.S.-backed ceasefire plan.
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