CAIRO: Egypt’s new Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy has unveiled a number of strategies to increase the number of hotel rooms in Egypt to accommodate an anticipated influx of tourists and enhance their experience.
Fathy convened a meeting with key ministry officials and associated bodies shortly after his swearing-in ceremony.
The agenda covered a number of efforts aimed at revitalizing Egypt’s tourism and antiquities sector, as well as possible challenges that could affect those efforts, Dr. Ahmed Fathy, a senior ministry official, told Arab News.
The meeting also covered the completion of legislative infrastructure related to the tourism sector, advancements in yacht tourism, updates on the Grand Egyptian Museum, and improvements to the tourist experience in the Giza Pyramids area.
Mohamed Amer, head of the Central Administration for Hotel Facilities, Shops, and Tourist Activities, highlighted recent expansion projects.
He said nearly 3,000 hotel rooms have recently been added across 11 new hotels and expansions. Around 1,245 rooms have been added in Cairo, the Red Sea, South Sinai, and Luxor since the end of March, he noted, while plans are in place to launch an additional 25,000 rooms by the end of 2024, all of which is expected to boost tourism.
Ghada Shalaby, deputy minister for tourism affairs, said there are currently about 5,000 hotel rooms in the country’s North Coast region, an amount Egypt hopes to double.
Shalaby said the increase in hotel rooms nationwide is essential for realizing one of the “pillars of Egypt’s national strategy for tourism development.”
Egypt to increase hotel room capacity to initiate and accommodate growth in tourism
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Egypt to increase hotel room capacity to initiate and accommodate growth in tourism
- Fathy convened a meeting with key ministry officials and associated bodies shortly after his swearing-in ceremony
- The meeting also covered the completion of legislative infrastructure related to the tourism sector
UAE uncovers ‘terror-linked’ organization formed by fugitives abroad
ABU DHABI: The UAE said that prosecutors had uncovered a new secret organization formed by fugitives from a terrorist group operating against the state from abroad, a statement on WAM said.
Investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution have revealed that the fugitives from the organization called the “Reform Call,” previously classified as a terrorist organization within the country, have formed a new secret group abroad.
The Reform Call was slated for dissolution in 2013, but the new organization aimed to revive the previous group and pursue similar objectives, WAM reported.
The confessions of an arrested member of the organization detailed the group’s structure and activities, and the roles of its members in threatening stability in the UAE, the statement said.
The UAE State Security Department has been monitoring fugitives from various emirates who were sentenced in absentia in 2013.
It said that the surveillance found two groups of the organization’s members who convened abroad and recruited others to form a new organization.
The investigations further revealed that some of these members received funding from sources within the UAE and from “other terrorist groups and organizations outside the country.”
Authorities said that the organization had established alliances with other terrorist groups to strengthen ties, secure funding, maintain the organization’s presence, enhance protection mechanisms abroad, and achieve its objectives, the WAM statement said.
In one country, the group is reportedly associated with several fronts posing as charitable or intellectual organizations and television channels, the most notable being the Cordoba Foundation, or TCF, which has also been classified as a terrorist organization in the country since 2014.
TCF presents itself as a Middle Eastern “think tank” institution and is led by Anas Altikriti, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood living abroad, who played a significant role in organizing demonstrations in front of UAE embassies and international organizations.
The fugitive members communicated in secret meetings via Internet applications and through mutual visits between the two groups.
These activities included “leading smear campaigns, promoting hate speech, questioning the state’s achievements, spreading discord among the populace, financing terrorism, engaging in money laundering, and cooperating with foreign intelligence services to destabilize state security.”
They also “incited actions against official institutions, targeted the UAE on human rights issues, sought to weaken confidence in the government, and stirred public opinion through fake online pages and accounts.”
Some members engaged directly with international human rights organizations, providing false information about state authorities in the UAE, WAM said.
The Public Prosecution is expected to release details of the terrorist organization and its crimes after the completion of the investigations.
Israeli airstrike kills 5 in West Bank, including Hamas commander — Palestinian media
- Israeli military said it had carried out an airstrike against a militant cell around the West Bank city of Tulkarm
RAMALLAH: An Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in the occupied West Bank killed a commander in the Palestinian armed group Hamas on Saturday, Hamas media reported, while Palestinian news agency WAFA said four other men were also killed.
The identities of the others were not clear, according to the WAFA report, which cited health officials.
The Israeli military said it had carried out an airstrike against a militant cell around the West Bank city of Tulkarm. Hamas media said a vehicle carrying fighters had been struck and that one of the commanders of its Tulkarm brigades was killed.
Violence in the West Bank was on the rise before the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began on Oct. 7 and has risen since, with frequent Israeli raids in the territory, which is among those that the Palestinians seek for a state.
Regionwide tensions have soared this week after the assassination of Hamas’ leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Teheran on Wednesday, a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Hezbollah senior military commander Fuad Shukr.
Haniyeh’s death was one in a series of killings of senior Hamas figures as the war in Gaza between the Palestinian militants and Israel nears its 11th month and concern grows that the conflict is spreading across the Middle East.
Hamas and Iran have both accused Israel of carrying out the assassination and have pledged to retaliate against their foe. Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility for the death.
Hezbollah, like Hamas, is backed by Iran and has also vowed revenge.
UAE provides 70 tons of aid to displaced families in Gaza
DUBAI: UAE’s ‘Chivalrous Knight 3’ aid mission in Gaza provided 70 tons of aid to families in Gaza, reported state news agency WAM on Friday.
The aid included dozens of shelter tents to house families who have been displaced by the ongoing fighting.
The volunteers also distributed food boxes to displaced Palestinian families in shelter camps to help them cope with food shortages.
Operation ‘Chivalrous Knight 3’ aims to provide food and essential aid for families and children in Gaza amid the fierce fighting that killed over 39,000 Palestinians.
Nearly two-thirds of Gaza buildings damaged in war — UN
- The assessment compared imagery from May 2023 onward with images from July 6 this year
- The latest war has resulted in 14 times more debris than combined total of previous ones
GENEVA: Nearly two-thirds of the buildings in the Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed since the Gaza war began in October, the UN said Friday.
“UNOSAT’s latest damage building assessment, based on satellite imagery ... reveals that 151,265 structures have been affected in the Gaza Strip,” the UN Satellite Center said.
“Of these, 30 percent were destroyed, 12 percent severely damaged, 36 percent moderately damaged, and 20 percent possibly damaged, representing approximately 63 percent of the total structures in the region.”
The assessment compared imagery from May 2023 onward with images from July 6 this year.
“The impact on civilian infrastructure is evident, with thousands of homes and essential facilities being damaged,” the agency said.
UNOSAT said the total debris in the Gaza Strip generated by the conflict amounts to approximately 41.95 million metric tonnes. The figure is up 83 percent from the nearly 23 million tonnes estimated on Jan. 7.
The conflict has resulted in 14 times more debris than the combined total from all previous conflicts in the Palestinian territory since 2008, UNOSAT said.
The agency estimated that 114 kg of debris was generated for each square meter in the Gaza Strip.
Geneva-based UNOSAT says its satellite imagery-based analysis helps the humanitarian community assess the extent of conflict-related damage and helps shape emergency relief efforts.
Source close to Hezbollah reports Israeli strikes near Syria-Lebanon border
- The group had muted its attacks following the killing of its military chief Fuad Shukr in Beirut on Tuesday and Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday
BEIRUT, Lebanon: A source close to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said late Friday that Israel carried out strikes on a convoy of trucks entering Lebanon from Syria.
“Three Israeli strikes targeted a convoy of tanker trucks on the Syrian-Lebanese border in the Hawsh el-Sayyed Ali area, injuring one Syrian driver,” the source told AFP.
It was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes in the border area, the source added.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor also reported Israeli strikes inside Syria near the border with Lebanon, without mentioning any casualties.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has a strong presence on both sides of the eastern stretch of the Lebanese-Syria border, where it supports the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The group has been exchanging near-daily fire with Israel since its Palestinian ally Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, sparking war in Gaza.
The group had muted its attacks following the killing of its military chief Fuad Shukr in Beirut on Tuesday and Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday.
The Lebanese group claimed responsibility for five attacks on military positions in northern Israel on Friday.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah addressed the funeral of Shukr on Friday, warning that Israel and “those who are behind it must await our inevitable response” to the twin killings.
Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah since October has killed at least 542 people on the Lebanese side, most of them fighters but also including 114 civilians, according to an AFP tally.
At least 22 soldiers and 25 civilians have been killed on the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, according to army figures.
