The Starbucks chain announced that it has begun laying off workers at its branches in the Middle East, after the brand found itself a target for pro-Palestinian activists since the start of the war in Gaza.
Starbucks branches throughout the area belong to the Kuwaiti Alshaya Group © Mena Today
The Starbucks chain announced that it has begun laying off workers at its branches in the Middle East, after the brand found itself a target for pro-Palestinian activists since the start of the war in Gaza.
Starbucks branches throughout the area belong to the Kuwaiti Alshaya Group, a private family company that holds franchises for a variety of Western companies, including H&M and Shake Shack.
"As a result of the continuously challenging trading conditions over the past six months, we have made the sad and very difficult decision to reduce the number of employees at our Starbucks stores," Alshaya said in a statement.
The company declined to answer questions about the number of laid-off workers, but according to Reuters it is more than 2,000 out of about 19,000, most of whom are foreign workers from Asian countries.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told his U.S. counterpart that military operations in the Gaza Strip have created conditions that would enable a hostage deal to be reached, Gallant's office said on Wednesday.
A meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the Middle East was briefly interrupted on Wednesday when two protesters stood with signs and yelled for the release of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The U.S. military announced on Wednesday that its mission to install and operate a temporary, floating pier off the coast of Gaza was complete, formally ending an extraordinary but troubled effort to bring humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
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