CAIRO: A quadrupling of the price of subsidized bread has made it harder than ever for Gamal Ahmad and millions of other Egyptians to get by.
The 64-year-old pensioner was struggling to make ends meet even before Eqypt’s government, facing a rising wheat import bill, increased the price of subsidized small loaves of flatbread for the first time in decades on June 1.
The loaves are available to more than 70 million people and are vital for the poorest. Even though they are still heavily discounted, the increase to 20 piasters ($0.0042) per loaf from five piasters is one that many households can ill afford.
“We can’t handle any more [price increases],” said Gamal, who is also worried about cuts to subsidized utilities that the government has announced.
“There’s still gas, electricity and water bills. All prices are rising,” he said.
The impact of the price increase will be felt by millions because the subsidized loaves are a staple for much of the population of about 106 million.
“Of course, the price hike impacts me,” pensioner Mohamed Abdelaziz said as he shopped for subsidized bread in central Cairo. “We are barely getting by.”
He said he had to keep on working to supplement his 2,000-pound ($42.46) monthly state pension and take care of three unmarried children.
Increasing the price of the subsidized bread was a politically sensitive decision that had been put off for years in a country where cheap bread is important for many because poverty is widespread.
The price had been kept steady since the 1980s despite repeated rounds of austerity reforms, with the government wary of facing a public backlash. An attempt to change the subsidy system sparked riots in 1977.
Instead of increasing the price, the government had previously tried to restrict eligibility and reduced the weight of the loaves.
About two-thirds of the population benefit from bread subsidies, which are based on income and include an allowance of five loaves per day.
The monthly bill for a family of four could now rise to 120 pounds from 30 pounds in a country where the minimum monthly wage is 6,000 pounds following a 50 percent rise in March.
HIGH INFLATION
The government acted now with annual inflation running at 32.5 percent in April after hitting 38 percent last September. Egypt also faces a large debt servicing bill and allowed a sharp currency devaluation in March, when it shifted to a flexible exchange rate system.
Egypt is often the world’s largest importer of wheat, and traders say the price change is not expected to change the quantity of state purchases in the short term. The collapsing currency and rampant inflation have caused the cost to the government of procuring wheat from abroad to surge.
Supply Minister Ali Moselhy says the new price represents just 16 percent of the cost of making the bread, which has been driven up by the weakening of Egypt’s currency and rising global wheat prices.
The government is allocating about 125 billion Egyptian pounds ($2.65 billion) for bread subsidies in its 2024/25 state budget, up from 91 billion last year, according to Moselhy.
Moselhy said the ministry had not received any complaints from citizens following the price increase.
The government says it is expanding the social safety net, but some of its critics question cuts to bread subsidies after the government has spent heavily on mega-projects, incurring more debt.
The state should instead prioritize cutting exemptions for military-owned companies that have long enjoyed financial privileges, said Timothy Kaldas, deputy director of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy.
The subsidized bread price increase will be “a significant hit for poor households,” he said.
Even if the move does not spur people to stage demonstrations following a crackdown on dissent and a ban on most public protests, it could fuel popular frustration over the economy, he said.
On Saturday, local TV host Lamis El Hadidy asked Moselhy why debt repayments took up 62 percent of budget spending while subsidies accounted for 11.5 percent.
Egypt had to repay its debts and “we are talking about our current reality and what to do tomorrow,” Moselhy replied.
Egyptians struggle with first bread subsidy cut in decades
https://arab.news/g4ww8
Egyptians struggle with first bread subsidy cut in decades
- The increase to 20 piasters per loaf from five piasters is one that many households can ill afford
- Increasing the price of the subsidized bread was a politically sensitive decision that had been put off for years
‘All our crew are Muslim,’ fearful Red Sea ships tell Houthis
- Increasingly desperate messages from commercial vessels trying to avoid attack by Yemen militia
LONDON: Commercial ships sailing through the Red Sea are broadcasting increasingly desperate messages on public channels to avoid being attacked by the Houthi militia in Yemen.
One message read “All Crew Muslim,” some included references to an all-Chinese crew and management, others flagged the presence of armed guards on board, and almost all insisted the ships had no connection to Israel.
Maritime security sources said the messages were a sign of growing desperation to avoid attack, but were unlikely to make any difference. Houthi intelligence preparation was “much deeper and forward-leaning,” one source said.
Houthi attacks off Yemen’s coast began in November 2023 in what the group said was in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war. A lull this year ended when they sank two ships last week and killed four crew. Vessels in the fleets of both ships had made calls to Israeli ports in the past year.
“Seafarers are the backbone of global trade, keeping countries supplied with food, fuel and medicine. They should not have to risk their lives to do their job,” the Seafarers' Charity.
Tunisian jailed after refusing to watch president on TV: lawyer
- The man had himself been deported from Italy, where he had been living without documentation
TUNIS: A Tunisian inmate was sentenced to six months in prison after he was reported to authorities for refusing to watch a TV news segment about President Kais Saied, his lawyer and an NGO said Friday.
The inmate’s lawyer, Adel Sghaier, said his client was initially prosecuted under Article 67 of the penal code, which covers crimes against the head of state, but the charge was later revised to violating public decency to avoid giving the case a “political” dimension.
The local branch of the Tunisian League for Human Rights in the central town of Gafsa said that the inmate had “expressed his refusal to watch (coverage of) presidential activities” during a news broadcast that was playing on TV in his cell.
He was reported by a cellmate, investigated and later sentenced to six months behind bars, the NGO said, condemning what it called a “policy of gagging voices that even extends to prisoners in their cells.”
Sghaier said his client had been held over an unrelated case that was ultimately dismissed, and that his family only learnt of his other sentence when he wasn’t freed as expected.
He acknowledged that his client voiced insults and demanded the channel be changed when Saied’s image appeared on TV, explaining the man blamed the president for “ruining his life” by striking a deal with Italy for the deportation of irregular Tunisian immigrants.
The man had himself been deported from Italy, where he had been living without documentation.
A spokesman for the court in Gafsa could not be reached for comment.
Saied, elected in 2019, has ruled Tunisia by decree since a 2021 power grab, with local and international organizations decrying a decline in freedoms in the country considered the cradle of the “Arab Spring.”
Palestinian Authority says settlers beat man to death in West Bank
- A spokesman for the Palestinian Authority ministry, Annas Abu El Ezz, told AFP that 23-year-old Saif Al-Din Kamil Abdul Karim Musalat “died after being severely beaten all over his body by settlers in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, this afternoon”
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: The Palestinian health ministry said a 23-year-old man was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank on Friday, in the latest deadly assault as violence surges in the territory.
In a statement, the Israeli military said clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israelis on Friday after rocks were thrown at Israeli civilians adjacent to the village of Sinjil, lightly injuring two.
It said the ensuing “violent confrontation... included vandalism of Palestinian property, arson, physical clashes, and rock hurling.”
“We are aware of reports regarding a Palestinian civilian killed and a number of injured Palestinians,” it said, adding that the incidents were being looked into.
A spokesman for the Palestinian Authority ministry, Annas Abu El Ezz, told AFP that 23-year-old Saif Al-Din Kamil Abdul Karim Musalat “died after being severely beaten all over his body by settlers in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, this afternoon.”
AFP footage from Ramallah showed his body being carried through the streets draped in a Palestinian flag and flanked by around a hundred mourners.
“The young man was injured and remained so for four hours. The army prevented us from reaching him and did not allow us to take him away,” said Abdul Samad Abdul Aziz, from the nearby village of Al-Mazraa Al-Sharqiya.
“When we finally managed to reach him, he was taking his last breath.”
The Israeli military said its forces, police and border police were dispatched to the scene and used “riot dispersal means” to break up the confrontation.
A week earlier, AFP journalists witnessed clashes between dozens of Israeli settlers and Palestinians in Sinjil, where a march against settler attacks on nearby farmland had been due to take place.
Israeli authorities recently erected a high fence cutting off parts of Sinjil from Road 60, which runs through the West Bank from north to south.
Violence in the territory has surged since the outbreak of the war in Gaza triggered by the Palestinian militant group Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel.
Since then, Israeli troops or settlers in the West Bank have killed at least 954 Palestinians — many of them militants, but also scores of civilians — according to Palestinian health ministry figures.
At least 36 Israelis, including both troops and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations, according to Israeli official figures.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
A father mourns 2 sons killed in an Israeli strike as hunger worsens in Gaza
- Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in recent weeks while trying to get food, according to local health officials
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Three brothers in the Gaza Strip woke up early to run to a local clinic to get “sweets,” their word for the emergency food supplements distributed by aid groups. By the time their father woke up, two of the brothers had been fatally wounded by an Israeli strike and the third had lost an eye.
The strike outside the clinic on Thursday in the central city of Deir Al-Balah killed 14 people, including 9 children, according to a local hospital, which had initially reported 10 children killed but later said one had died in a separate incident.
The Israeli military said it targeted a militant it said had taken part in the Hamas attack that ignited the 21-month war. Security camera footage appeared to show two young men targeted as they walked past the clinic where several people were squatting outside.
Hatem Al-Nouri’s four-year-old son, Amir, was killed immediately. His eight-year-old son, Omar, was still breathing when he reached the hospital but died shortly thereafter. He said that at first he didn’t recognize his third son, two-year-old Siraj, because his eye had been torn out.
“What did these children do to deserve this?” the father said as he broke into tears. “They were dreaming of having a loaf of bread.”
Violence in the West Bank
In a separate development, Israeli settlers killed two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. It said Seifeddin Musalat, 23, was beaten to death and Mohammed Al-Shalabi, 23, was shot in the chest in the village of Sinjil near the city of Ramallah. Both were 23.
The military said Palestinians had hurled rocks at Israelis in the area earlier on Friday, lightly wounding two people. That set off a larger confrontation that included “vandalism of Palestinian property, arson, physical clashes, and rock hurling,” the army said. It said troops had dispersed the crowds, without saying if anyone was arrested.
Palestinians and rights groups have long accused the military of ignoring settler violence, which has spiked — along with Palestinian attacks and Israeli military raids — since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
A ‘sharp and unprecedented’ rise in malnutrition
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in recent weeks while trying to get food, according to local health officials. Experts say hunger is widespread among the territory’s 2 million Palestinians and that Israel’s blockade and military offensive have put them at risk of famine.
The deputy director of the World Food Program said Friday that humanitarian needs and constraints on the UN’s ability to provide aid are worse than he’s ever seen, saying “starvation is spreading” and one in three people are going for days without eating.
Carl Skau told UN reporters in New York that on a visit to Gaza last week he didn’t see any markets, only small amounts of potatoes being sold on a few street corners in Gaza City. He was told that a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of flour now costs over $25.
The international aid group Doctors Without Borders said it has recorded a “sharp and unprecedented rise” in acute malnutrition at two clinics it operates in Gaza, with more than 700 pregnant and breastfeeding women, and nearly 500 children, receiving outpatient therapeutic food.
“Our neonatal intensive care unit is severely overcrowded, with four to five babies sharing a single incubator,” Dr. Joanne Perry, a physician with the group, said in a statement. “This is my third time in Gaza, and I’ve never seen anything like this. Mothers are asking me for food for their children, pregnant women who are six months along often weigh no more than 40 kilograms (88 pounds).”
The Israeli military body in charge of civilian affairs in Gaza says it is allowing enough food to enter and blames the UN and other aid groups for not promptly distributing it.
Risking their lives for food
Israel ended a ceasefire and renewed its offensive in March. It eased a 2 1/2 month blockade in May, but the UN and aid groups say they are struggling to distribute humanitarian aid because of Israeli military restrictions and a breakdown of law and order that has led to widespread looting.
A separate aid mechanism built around an American group backed by Israel has Palestinians running a deadly gantlet to reach its sites. Witnesses and health officials say hundreds have been killed by Israeli fire while heading toward the distribution points through military zones off limits to independent media.
The military has acknowledged firing warning shots at Palestinians who it says approached its forces in a suspicious manner.
The Israeli- and US-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation denies there has been any violence in or around its sites. But two of its contractors told The Associated Press that their colleagues have fired live ammunition and stun grenades as Palestinians scramble for food, allegations denied by the foundation.
The UN Human Rights Office said Thursday that it has recorded 798 killings near Gaza aid sites in a little over a month leading up to July 7. Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the office, said 615 were killed “in the vicinity of the GHF sites” and the remainder on convoy routes used by other aid groups.
A GHF spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the group’s policies, rejected the “false and misleading stats,” saying most of the deaths were linked to shootings near UN convoys, which pass by Israeli army positions and have been attacked by armed gangs and unloaded by crowds.
Israel has long accused UN bodies of being biased against it.
No ceasefire after two days of Trump-Netanyahu talks
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and abducted 251. They still hold 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war. But there were no signs of a breakthrough this week after two days of talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
If Lebanon doesn’t ‘hurry up and get in line’ everyone around them will, US envoy Tom Barrack tells Arab News
- Asked about the future of Hezbollah, sectarian dynamics and Lebanon’s economic collapse, he describes a delicate path forward for a country long paralyzed by factional politics
- ‘I think this government is ready … We’re saying, you want our help? Here it is. We’re not going to dictate to you. If you don’t want it, no problem — we’ll go home,’ he adds
NEW YORK CITY: “If Lebanon doesn’t hurry up and get in line, everyone around them will,” US Special Envoy Tom Barrack warned on Friday as he discussed the potential transformation of Hezbollah from an Iran-backed militant group into a fully political entity within Lebanon.
His message underscored the growing American impatience with political inertia in the country, and the mounting pressure for a comprehensive realignment in the region.
Answering questions from Arab News about Hezbollah’s future, sectarian dynamics and Lebanon’s economic collapse, Barrack described a delicate path forward for a country long paralyzed by factional politics.
Central to the conversation is the disarmament of Hezbollah’s military wing, which is classified by Washington as a foreign terrorist organization, and the potential for its reintegration into the country as a purely political party.
“It’s a great question,” Barrack said when asked by Arab News whether the US administration would consider delisting Hezbollah if it gave up its weapons. “And I’m not running from the answer but I can’t answer it.”
He acknowledged the complexity of the issue and pointed out that while Washington unequivocally labels Hezbollah as a terrorist group, its political wing has won parliamentary seats and represents a significant portion of Lebanon’s Shiite population, alongside the Amal Movement.
Barrack framed Hezbollah as having “two parts” — a militant faction, supported by Iran and designated as a terrorist entity, and a political wing that operates within Lebanon’s parliamentary system. He stressed that any process for the disarmament of Hezbollah must be led by the Lebanese government, with the full agreement of Hezbollah itself.
“That process has to start with the Council of Ministers,” he said. “They have to authorize the mandate. And Hezbollah, the political party, has to agree to that.
“But what Hezbollah is saying is, ‘Okay, we understand one Lebanon has to happen.’ Why? Because one Syria is starting to happen.”
This push for unity, Barrack added, comes amid shifting regional dynamics, especially in the wake of what he described as US President Donald Trump’s “bold” policies on Iran.
“Everyone’s future is being recycled,” he said, suggesting a broader recalibration was underway in the Middle East, from the reconstruction of Syria to potential new dialogues involving Israel.
“So Hezbollah, in my belief, Hezbollah, the political party, is looking and saying logically, for our people, the success of Lebanon has to collate the Sunnis, the Shias, the Druze Christians all together. Now is the time. How do we get there? Israel has to be a component part of that.”
Barrack indicated that the US had facilitated behind-the-scenes talks between Lebanon and Israel, despite the former’s legal prohibition against direct contact.
“We put together a negotiating team and started to be an intermediary,” he said. “My belief is that’s happening in spades.”
At the heart of any deal will be the question of arms; not small sidearms, which Barrack dismissed as commonplace in Lebanon, but heavy weaponry capable of threatening Israel. Such weapons, he said, are “stored in garages and subterranean areas under houses.”
A disarmament process, he suggested, would require the Lebanese Armed Forces, an institution he described as widely respected, to step in, with US and other international backing.
“You need to empower LAF,” he said. “Then, softly, with Hezbollah, they can say, ‘Here’s the process of how you’re going to return arms.’ We’re not going to do it in a civil war.”
But the capacity of Lebanese authorities to execute such a plan remains in question. Barrack lamented the country’s failing institutions, its defunct central bank, a stalled banking resolution law, and systemic gridlock in parliament.
On Monday, the envoy said he was satisfied with the Lebanese government’s response to a proposal to disarm Hezbollah, adding that Washington was ready to help the small nation emerge from its long-running political and economic crisis.
“What the government gave us was something spectacular in a very short period of time and a very complicated manner,” Barrack said during a news conference at the presidential palace in Beirut.
Later, however, during an interview with Lebanese news channel LBCI, when asked whether the Lebanese politicians he had been dealing with were actually engaging with him or simply buying time, Barrack said: “The Lebanese political culture is deny, detour and deflect.
“This is the way that it’s been for 60 years, and this is the task we have in front of us. It has to change.”
Asked whether the US was truly satisfied with the Lebanese government’s plan of action, he said: “Both (statements) are true,” referencing his comments in praise of Beirut’s leadership, while simultaneously criticizing this legacy of “delay, detour and deflect.”
He added: “They’re satisfied with the status quo — until they’re not. What changes? What changes is they’re going to become extinct.”
Still, Barrack expressed a note of cautious optimism.
“I think this government is ready,” he said. “They’re standing up to the issues. We’re not being soft with them. We’re saying, you want our help? Here it is. We’re not going to dictate to you. If you don’t want it, no problem — we’ll go home.”
Barrack made it clear that the time for delaying tactics might be running out.
“It’s a tiny little country with a confessional system that maybe makes sense, maybe doesn’t,” he said. “Now is the time.”
Turning to Syria, Barrack said that the lifting of US sanctions on the country marked a strategic “fresh start” for the war-torn nation, but emphasized that the United States is not pursuing nation-building or federalism in the region.
He described the Middle East as a “difficult zip code at an amazingly historic time,” and said the Trump administration’s removal of sanctions on May 13 was aimed at offering the Syrian people “a new slice of hope” following over a decade of civil war.
“President (Trump)’s message is peace and prosperity,” Barrack said, adding that the policy shift is intended to give the emerging Syrian regime a chance to rebuild. “Sanctions gave the people hope. That’s really all that happened at that moment.”
Barrack clarified that the original US involvement in Syria was driven by counter-ISIS operations, and not aimed at regime change or humanitarian intervention.
However, he acknowledged that the region is entering a new phase. “We’re not there to build a nation. We’re there to provide an opportunity, and it’s up to them to take it,” he said.
He reaffirmed Washington’s position against a federal model for Syria, saying the country must remain unified with a single army and government.
“There’s not going to be six countries. There’s going to be one Syria,” he said, ruling out the possibility of separate Kurdish, Alawite, or Druze autonomous regions.
The statement comes amid renewed tensions between Kurdish groups and the central Syrian government, particularly over the future of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The Pentagon has requested $130 million in its 2026 budget to continue supporting the SDF.
“SDF is YPG, and YPG is a derivative of PKK,” Barrack noted, referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which is considered a terrorist organization by both Turkey and the US. “We owe them [the SDF] to be reasonable… but not their own government.”
He emphasized that the US is not dictating terms but would not support a separatist outcome: “We’re not going to be there forever as the babysitter.”
Barrack confirmed that the US is closely monitoring the announcement that the first group of PKK fighters had destroyed their weapons in northern Iraq — a move he described as “generous” and potentially significant.
“This could be the first step towards long-term resolution of the Kurdish issue in Turkiye,” he said, but cautioned that questions remain about the SDF’s ongoing ties to PKK leadership. “They (the SDF) have to decide: Are they Syrians? Are they Kurds first? That’s their issue.”
The ambassador said the ultimate vision includes gradual normalization between Syria and Israel, potentially aligning with the spirit of the Abraham Accords. “Al-Shara has been vocal in saying Israel is not an enemy,” Barrack said. “There are discussions beginning — baby steps.”
He added that regional actors including Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Turkey would also need to take part in a broader normalization process.
Barrack stressed that the current US strategy offers a narrow but real chance at stability. “There is no Plan B,” he said. “We’re saying: here’s a path. If you don’t like it, show us another one.”
The ambassador said the US is ready to assist but is no longer willing to serve as the “security guarantor for the world.”
“We’ll help, we’ll usher. But it’s your opportunity to create a new story,” he said.
