Gaza Peepur are paying Eygptian to Huat Big Big de woh? Why dun they pay more and go Jiuhu, Champion Syed

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An Egypt firm is making $2m a day from Palestinians fleeing Israel's war on Gaza​

Investigation by Middle East Eye reveals that a company owned by an ally of the Egyptian president may have earned at least $118m in three months

Egyptian businessman and tribal leader Ibrahim al-Organi presenting his projects to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi during a presidential campaign event, May 2014 (Screengrab from Mehwar TV/Illustration by MEE)
By MEE correspondent
Published date: 1 May 2024 15:42 BST|Last update: 3 weeks 2 days ago
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A company owned by an influential Egyptian businessman and ally of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is making around $2m a day from Palestinians fleeing Israel's war on Gaza, Middle East Eye can reveal.

Hala Consulting and Tourism Services, a firm owned by Sinai tribal leader and business tycoon Ibrahim al-Organi, has been charging Palestinians crossing from Gaza's Rafah to Egypt at least $5,000 per adult and $2,500 for children under 16.

It has a monopoly on providing transfer services at the Rafah crossing, the only Gaza exit not bordered with Israel and the single route out of the coastal enclave for Palestinians.

In the past three months alone, the company is estimated to have made a minimum of $118m, or 5.6 billion Egyptian pounds, from desperate Palestinians trying to leave war-torn Gaza.

Despite international media scrutiny on Hala and Organi in recent months, including numerous reports by Middle East Eye, the firm doubled its profits from Palestinians in April, with the average daily fees exceeding $2m.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-firm-palestinians-fleeing-war-gaza

 

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MEE's analysis of the travellers list published online by Hala reveals that last month the company may have earned at least $58m from around 10,136 adults and 2,910 children who crossed the border via its "VIP list".

The daily average of $2m per day in April is roughly double what it is estimated to have earned daily in March.

The largest recorded profits for April were on Tuesday, when it appears Hala made at least $2.3m that day alone from Palestinian refugees.

By the end of this year, if the April average continues, the company may earn well over half a billion dollars from the so-called VIP list of people Hala is transferring across the Gaza-Egypt border.

Chart showing how Hala's profits from Palestinian refugees increased between February and April 2024. Numbers are underestimates, based on the minimum known fees for adults and children (MEE)


Hala's "VIP" transfer service was first recorded on 2 February.

 

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Before that, Palestinian and Egyptian sources told MEE that several intermediaries were involved in coordinating the exit of Palestinians in a haphazard, decentralised way.

Before February, Palestinians were charged up to $11,000 per adult to leave Gaza, until Hala monopolised the business and standardised fees.

Prior to the war, Hala charged everyone exiting Gaza via the Rafah crossing $350 per person, but the price has increased 14-fold for Palestinians.

Based on the lists of travellers published since 2 February, MEE can reveal that Hala’s profits from Palestinians may have been at least $21m in February, $38.5m in March and $58m in April.

The count is based on 23 published lists from February, 30 from March and 30 from April.

These estimates do not factor in profits potentially made in the first four months of the war, when the Rafah crossing business had not yet been monopolised by Hala.

There is no public record for Hala's profits between 7 October, when the war began, and the end of January.

 

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The income earned by Hala and other Organi companies is not subject to any known oversight, and no public records are available to scrutinise where the money is spent or who benefits from it.

Mohannad Sabry, an Egyptian writer and Sinai expert, said it is not surprising that the Egyptian state is not doing anything to stop Organi from taking advantage of Palestinians' desperation.

"Organi is a front for the state and military-owned businesses and their policies in Egypt. He is a cog in this dark, corrupt machine operating with impunity," he told MEE.

The problem with Organi’s business activity, according to Sabry, is that it is part of a larger, opaque economic system controlled by the Egyptian military.

Describing the system as a "black box", Sabry said not only are the details of its workings a mystery, but no one in Egypt is allowed to even seek information about it.

Organi is an ally of Egypt's president and military, and is widely considered the most influential tribal and business figure in the Sinai peninsula, Middle East Eye has previously reported.

In January 2022, Sisi appointed Organi as a member of the Sinai Development Authority, a state agency with exclusive control over development and construction activities in the peninsula.

Security services in early April detained activists who protested against Organi and his company profiting from vulnerable Palestinians.

Some have faced charges of “spreading fake news” and “collaborating with a terrorist group” as a result of taking part in the demonstrations.