Saudi Arabia reopens borders, resumes international flights

Riyadh had shut its borders on December 21 after a new strain of the coronavirus was discovered in the UK.

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Saudi Arabia has announced it will reopen its borders and resume international flights after a two-week suspension aimed at containing the spread of the new COVID-19 strain.

The kingdom ordered the lifting of “precautionary measures related to the spread of a new variant of coronavirus,” the ministry of interior said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency on Sunday.

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Saudi arabia launches covid vaccination campaign, saudi arabia to remove key restrictions on foreign workers, saudi arabia’s economy continues to shrink.

Authorities in the kingdom have to date recorded more than 363,000 cases, including at least 6,200 deaths – the highest among Gulf Arab states. But the country has also reported a high recovery rate.

Riyadh suspended international flights and access through land crossings and ports on December 21.

Other Gulf countries, Oman and Kuwait, who had taken similar measures, have also lifted them in recent days.

But travellers returning from Britain, South Africa or “any country where the new variant of the coronavirus is spreading” are subject to more restrictions, the statement added.

Foreigners coming from those countries must spend 14 days in another country before entering Saudi Arabia, and show a negative test.

Saudi nationals returning from those countries will be able to enter directly, but must then spend two weeks in quarantine on arrival and be subject to tests.

Last month, Saudi Arabia was one of the first Gulf countries to launch a nationwide inoculation campaign using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

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Saudi Arabia aims to be among top 10 global destinations in 2024

Travel & tourism.

In 2023, Al-Khateeb said that the tourism sector accounted for 5 per cent of GDP

STOCK Saudi skyline

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Dubai: Saudi Arabia aims to be among the top 10 global touristic destinations this year, with national tourism strategy aiming to attract more than 150 million visitors by 2030.

Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Saudi Arabia’s minister of tourism, spoke at the Manafea Forum in Medina stating how the Kingdom is on the right path to make the tourism sector an important contributor to the country’s overall gross domestic product (GDP).

In 2023, Al-Khateeb said that the tourism sector accounted for 5 per cent of GDP, with the target of increasing this figure to 10 per cent.

He said: “At the Ministry of Tourism, we were keen to make the legislation regulating the tourism sector characterized by ease, flexibility and clarity, and we introduced new licenses with regard to guest facilities and hospitality.”

He talked about the Tourism Investment Enablers Programme, which aims to achieve these objectives by empowering the private sector as well as creating 1,000,000 job opportunities by 2030.

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Middle East Crisis Netanyahu Rebuffs Biden and Vows to Press Ahead With Rafah Invasion

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  • Aid trucks guarded by armed men entering Gaza City in the early hours of Tuesday. Reuters
  • A Palestinian family in a damaged building breaking the fast during Ramadan in Rafah, Gaza. Haitham Imad/EPA, via Shutterstock
  • Palestinians searching for missing people under the rubble of a destroyed home in Nuseirat, central Gaza, on Tuesday. Mohammed Saber/EPA, via Shutterstock
  • A Palestinian family breaking the fast in Rafah, Gaza. Associated Press
  • A woman praying near a memorial in Tel Aviv for those killed or taken hostage on Oct. 7. Oded Balilty/Associated Press
  • Palestinians fleeing strikes on Gaza City. Associated Press
  • Police officers in Jerusalem remove ultra-Orthodox Jewish protesters from a demonstration against their conscription into the armed forces. Ahmad Gharabli/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
  • Children waiting for food aid at the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza. Mahmoud Essa/Associated Press
  • Palestinians fleeing Gaza City during strikes. Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Netanyahu acknowledges a dispute with the U.S., but says Israel will press on into Rafah.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel brushed aside disagreement with the Biden administration over a planned ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, saying Tuesday that his government would press ahead despite pleas for restraint from the United States and key allies.

Mr. Netanyahu made the remarks to Israeli lawmakers a day after speaking by phone with Mr. Biden, who the White House said had reiterated concerns that invading Rafah would be “a mistake.” Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said that Israel’s objectives in Rafah “can be done by other means,” and that Mr. Netanyahu had agreed to send a team of Israeli officials to Washington to hear U.S. concerns and to discuss alternatives.

But on Tuesday, Mr. Netanyahu insisted that sending troops into Rafah was necessary to eliminate what he said were Hamas battalions in the city.

“I made it as clear as possible to the president that we are determined to complete the elimination of these battalions in Rafah, and there is no way to do this without a ground incursion,” Mr. Netanyahu said.

Given the forum where the Israeli leader was speaking — a committee of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset — it was unclear whether the intended audience for his comments was primarily domestic, and whether the divisions might be smoothed at the meetings planned in Washington.

But Mr. Netanyahu acknowledged the dispute with the Biden administration over invading Rafah, saying “we all know this.” The United States has expressed increasing concern over civilian deaths in Gaza, but Mr. Netanyahu emphasized on Tuesday that he and Mr. Biden remained on the same page about the main objectives of the war.

“We have a debate with the Americans over the need to enter Rafah, not over the need to eliminate Hamas, but the need to enter Rafah,” he told the lawmakers.

He said that “out of respect for the president,” he had agreed to send a team to Washington so that the U.S. officials could “present us with their ideas, especially on the humanitarian side.”

Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesman, told reporters at a news briefing on Tuesday that the U.S. and Israel were “just squarely in a different place” on the expected invasion of Rafah.

“We have a different strategic viewpoint on what we believe is necessary to help target the key elements of Hamas,” he added.

The Biden administration has repeatedly warned Israel against sending ground troops into Rafah without a plan to get the more than one million Palestinians sheltering there out of harm’s way.

On Monday, Mr. Sullivan said that no such plan had been presented.

Many Palestinians who have fled from fighting in other parts of the Gaza Strip have sought safety in Rafah, obeying Israeli directives to move south. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people are crammed into temporary shelters.

“They went from Gaza City to Khan Younis and then to Rafah,” Mr. Sullivan told reporters. “They have nowhere else to go.”

And Rafah’s limited resources have been exhausted as the population has multiplied. Many people in the city spend their days trying to secure basic needs: finding clean water for drinking and bathing, getting enough food and calming their children when Israeli strikes hit nearby.

— Cassandra Vinograd

The White House says a meeting with Israeli officials on Rafah is expected early next week.

The White House is expected to meet with an Israeli delegation early next week to discuss Israel’s plans for an invasion of Rafah, a point of tension between President Biden and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday that the Biden administration expected the Israeli officials to arrive in Washington “likely” early next week.

The leaders are at odds over how to proceed in Rafah. The White House said that Mr. Biden told Mr. Netanyahu on Monday that sending Israeli forces into Rafah, which has become the last refuge for more than half of Gaza’s population, would be disastrous when there are other ways to defeat Hamas.

But Mr. Netanyahu has not moved from his position that he must send troops into Rafah to defeat Hamas, the Palestinian faction that led the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, even though about 1.5 million civilians are currently seeking shelter in the southern city.

“Our view is that there are ways for Israel to prevail in this conflict, to secure its long-term future, to end the terror threat from Gaza, and not smash into Rafah,” Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Monday. “That’s what we’re going to present in this integrated way when this team comes.”

He also said the face-to-face meetings would be necessary to make progress in negotiations between Israel and Hamas on a deal to release Israeli hostages held by Hamas and a cease-fire to the fighting in Gaza.

“We’ve arrived at a point where each side has been making clear to the other its perspective, its view,” Mr. Sullivan said. “And now we really need to get down to brass tacks and have the chance for a delegation from each side on an integrated basis — everyone sitting around the same table, talking through the way forward.”

— Zolan Kanno-Youngs

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Maps: Tracking the Attacks in Israel and Gaza

See where Israel has bulldozed vast areas of Gaza, as its invasion continues to advance south.

How Gazans have fared after Israel has asked them to flee.

For many civilians in Gaza, fleeing from Israeli attacks has become a grim cycle. Israeli evacuation orders have prompted more than a million people to move from one destination to another since October, each time packing belongings and seeking transport — by vehicle, cart or foot — to escape airstrikes and ground fighting between Israel and Hamas.

The latest example is Rafah, in southern Gaza, a city swollen to more than 1.4 million people by forced displacement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said on Tuesday that his military would invade the city to root out Hamas but that it would provide humanitarian aid and “facilitate an orderly exit of the population.”

Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, has said that a major ground invasion in Rafah would be a mistake, not least because it would further imperil humanitarian access. Displacement has contributed to a hunger crisis sweeping the territory, and the United Nations has said that an invasion could mean that an already catastrophic situation slides “deeper into the abyss.”

Some civilians say they have fled time and again . As many people face the prospect of being displaced again, here is a look at what happened on a few occasions when Israel has told civilians to evacuate.

Northern Gaza

Israel began telling more than one million civilians to evacuate northern Gaza about two weeks ahead of its ground invasion on Oct. 27, though the area was pummeled by Israeli airstrikes soon after the Hamas-led attack in Israel on Oct. 7.

“Hamas is using you as a human shield,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said on Oct. 22, calling on civilians still in northern Gaza to move south.

The Israeli military also dropped Arabic-language leaflets over the area, warning that anyone who did not move south “may be considered as a partner in a terrorist organization.”

The United Nations said that the evacuation order was impractical, and the U.S. asked Israel to delay its invasion to give civilians more time. Even so, hundreds of thousands of people obeyed the order and moved to southern Gaza, carrying a few possessions away from an area that had already been shattered by airstrikes before the full-scale invasion began.

The south proved to be no escape from peril. An investigation by The New York Times in December found that Israel had used some of the largest and most destructive bombs in its arsenal in southern Gaza, posing a pervasive threat to civilians.

Mr. Netanyahu says that Israel intends to minimize civilian casualties while fighting Hamas, and Israeli officials said that Hamas fighters had set up checkpoints to prevent people from complying with the orders to move.

Khan Younis

In early December, after a one-week cease-fire, Israel launched a major military operation in Khan Younis, southern Gaza’s largest city. Many civilians there had fled to the city from northern Gaza.

The Israeli military again warned civilians to leave parts of Khan Younis for Rafah and other places farther south, though residents said that they sometimes had mere hours of notice. Israel also dropped leaflets over Khan Younis and broadcast information about which parts of the city were safe at any given moment.

Several Palestinians said, however, that the orders to leave Khan Younis, or to move within it, were confusing, not least because they appeared to shift over time and left little opportunity to gather possessions. In addition, obeying the orders meant carting relatives — many of whom had been displaced several times previously — to a new place where the prospects for shelter and basic essentials were uncertain.

Civilians also said that when they fled as instructed, they sometimes found themselves at locations engulfed in fighting or subject to airstrikes.

The most recent designated large scale safe zone is Rafah, which lies against the closed Egyptian border and has been immensely swollen by displacement. Without sufficient accommodations, many of its new residents have pitched makeshift tents.

Rafah has been subject to airstrikes and fighting in recent weeks. In one example, the health authorities in Gaza said on Feb. 12 that at least 67 people had been killed overnight in airstrikes in the city. Israel’s military had launched an operation to rescue two people held hostage in Gaza since the Oct. 7 attack.

The Israeli authorities have asked people at least twice to head to Al-Mawasi, a coastal village in southern Gaza that could be a destination for people asked to leave Rafah. Aid officials have said that the village lacks shelter, humanitarian aid and basic infrastructure.

— Matthew Mpoke Bigg

Israel’s military says its forces are still operating at Al-Shifa Hospital.

The Israeli military said its forces were pressing on with a raid of Al-Shifa Hospital and had detained scores of people there, in an operation that has drawn condemnation from Gazan health officials and raised questions about how much control Israeli forces have over northern Gaza.

The latest raid of Al-Shifa began on Monday in what Israeli officials said was an operation targeting senior Hamas officials who had regrouped there, setting off a battle that both sides said had resulted in casualties.

On Tuesday, Israel’s military said its troops were “continuing precise operations” in the sprawling complex of the hospital, which is Gaza’s largest. It said it had killed dozens of militants, though its account of the fighting could not be independently verified.

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The Al Jazeera news network said that one of its journalists had been detained for 12 hours. It said the journalist, Ismail al-Ghoul, had been severely beaten . Israel’s military has not responded to the allegations, which drew outrage from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The Gazan Health Ministry condemned the raid as a “crime against health institutions,” and humanitarian organizations expressed alarm over the situation at the complex. The hospital, along with the surrounding area, had been sheltering 30,000 patients, medical workers and displaced civilians.

“Hospitals should never be battlegrounds,” the director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a post on social media warning that the situation was “endangering health workers, patients and civilians.

Doctors Without Borders said it was “extremely concerned” for the safety of patients and medical staff in the hospital compound. In a statement on Monday, the organization urged “all warring parties to respect the grounds and perimeter of the hospital and ensure the safety of medical personnel, patients and civilians.”

Israel has said that the hospital complex doubled as a secret Hamas military command center, calling it one of many examples of civilian facilities that Hamas uses to shield its activities.

Four months ago, Israeli forces stormed the complex and found a tunnel shaft that they said supported their contention that the armed group had used it to conceal military operations.

Since then, Israel has withdrawn many troops from northern Gaza and has shifted the focus of its invasion to the south. As a result, lawlessness has increasingly taken hold in the north, prompting international aid organizations to suspend operations despite a dire humanitarian crisis.

The Biden administration has grown increasingly critical of Israel’s conduct of the war and its toll on civilians. On Monday, President Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said that “more innocent civilians have died in this conflict, in this military operation, than in all the wars in Gaza combined, including thousands of children.”

“A humanitarian crisis has descended across Gaza, and anarchy reigns in areas that Israel’s military has cleared but not stabilized,” he said.

Gabby Sobelman and Rawan Sheikh Ahmad contributed reporting.

The U.N. human rights chief says Israel may be using starvation as a war weapon.

The United Nations human rights chief, Volker Türk, blamed Israel on Tuesday for what he said was the entirely preventable catastrophe of starvation and famine unfolding in Gaza, urging international pressure on the country to allow for the unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid.

International alarm has been growing over the hunger crisis in Gaza, with food experts predicting an imminent famine in the north of the enclave and foreign leaders and diplomats becoming increasingly blunt in pointing the finger at Israel.

“The situation of hunger, starvation and famine is a result of Israel’s extensive restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid and commercial goods, displacement of most of the population, as well as the destruction of crucial civilian infrastructure,” Mr. Türk said in a statement.

Mr. Türk said Israel’s restrictions on aid, together with its conduct in its campaign to destroy Hamas, including the displacement of people and the destruction of infrastructure, may amount to the use of starvation as a weapon of war, which is a war crime.

Israel has pushed back on criticism that it is restricting aid from entering Gaza, pointing to its support for several recent initiatives , including efforts to provide supplies by air and sea that aid groups say are far less efficient than road.

It has accused Hamas of diverting aid and of using Palestinian civilians as human shields. The country’s mission in Geneva said on Tuesday that Mr. Türk “seeks once again to blame Israel for the situation and completely absolve the responsibility of the U.N. and Hamas.”

A report released Monday by the U.N.-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said that 1.1 million people, half the population of Gaza, would most likely face catastrophic food insecurity and predicted an imminent rise in hunger-related deaths.

“The coping mechanisms we have seen the past weeks, even months, are people eating bird seeds, animal fodder, wild grass and weeds,” Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the U.N. aid agency in Geneva, told reporters on Tuesday while discussing the report. “We are beyond that. There’s literally nothing left.”

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that it had set up a center to try to stabilize malnutrition levels in the south of Gaza and was looking to set up another in the north, but it said that to bring in supplies at the scale needed would require a cease-fire. Talks in Qatar are continuing amid another intensive diplomatic push to secure a pause in the fighting.

— Nick Cumming-Bruce reporting from Geneva

Israel’s spy chief returns home as cease-fire talks continue in Qatar.

The head of Israel’s delegation has returned home from cease-fire talks in Qatar, an Israeli official said on Tuesday, but talks there are continuing amid another intensive diplomatic push to secure a pause in the fighting in Gaza as famine looms.

Warnings from the United Nations that a “famine is imminent” have added urgency to efforts to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, and get more humanitarian aid into Gaza. In addition to the discussions in Qatar, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia and Egypt this week to discuss postwar plans for Gaza and the wider Middle East.

Israeli negotiators arrived in Qatar’s capital, Doha, on Monday for a new round of in-person talks about a potential cease-fire and the release of hostages held by Hamas and other armed groups. Their delegation was led by David Barnea, the head of Mossad, Israel’s foreign spy agency.

Mr. Barnea returned to Israel on Tuesday morning, according to an Israeli official who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. Further details were not immediately available, but the Israeli news media reported that other members of Israel’s negotiating team remained in Qatar.

Officials from Qatar and Egypt have acted as intermediaries in the cease-fire discussions, in part because negotiators for Israel and Hamas do not talk directly with each other.

A spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry, Majed al-Ansari, confirmed that Mr. Barnea had departed but said on Tuesday that “technical teams” seeking to hash out finer details of a potential agreement were continuing to meet in Doha.

He said that while there had not yet been a breakthrough in talks, Qatar remained “cautiously optimistic.”

Two senior Israeli officials said the government had initially given its negotiating team an amorphous mandate for the latest round of talks. The team had now been authorized to go deeper into details during the talks, they said, but wasn’t given the full latitude it had requested. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to communicate with the news media.

The Israeli officials said on Monday that a proposal being discussed included a 42-day pause in the fighting in exchange for the release of 40 of the more than 100 hostages taken from Israel and still held in Gaza by Hamas or its allies. But they emphasized that they expected it would take a long time to reach an agreement.

Last week, Hamas presented a new proposal that omitted a previous demand that Israel immediately agree to a permanent cease-fire in return for beginning an exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

The Israeli officials said Hamas’s new proposal included details that were unacceptable to Israel.

For months, Hamas leaders have been publicly calling for a comprehensive cease-fire and complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israeli officials repeatedly rejected the demands and indicated that they would be open to only a temporary pause.

Cassandra Vinograd contributed reporting.

— Aaron Boxerman

The top U.S. diplomat will make his sixth wartime trip to the Middle East.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia and Egypt this week, a trip that comes as the Biden administration tries to broker a hostage deal that would pause Israel’s offensive in Gaza and allow more humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory.

Speaking to reporters during a stop in Manila on Tuesday, Mr. Blinken said his discussions would include postwar plans for Gaza and the wider Middle East, including a potential agreement that would normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel and lay the groundwork for the eventual creation of a Palestinian state.

Mr. Blinken will be traveling to the region as mediators from Egypt and Qatar hold meetings in Qatar about a possible cease-fire. Israel sent a team of negotiators to Qatar on Monday.

The trip will be Mr. Blinken’s sixth to the region since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which set off the war in Gaza. In the announcement of his travel, the State Department said that he would meet with the Saudi and Egyptian “leadership,” without naming specific officials. There was no mention of a visit to Israel.

Mr. Blinken said that during stops in Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, and Cairo, the Egyptian capital, he would be discussing “the imperative of having a plan for Gaza, for when the conflict ends,” and that the hope was such a conclusion would come “as soon as possible, consistent with Israel’s needs to defend itself and make sure that Oct. 7 can never happen again.”

Any postwar plan for Gaza will involve the question of how to provide governance and security in Gaza, a subject on which the United States and Israel disagree .

Mr. Blinken also said he would address “what is the right architecture for lasting regional peace,” an apparent reference to diplomacy between the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia to broker a joint agreement.

Such a pact would likely require Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians in return for its first-ever formal diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia. In turn, the Saudis want the United States and Israel to support the creation of a civil nuclear program on Saudi soil , as well as greater military support from Washington.

Mr. Blinken stressed the urgency of providing humanitarian relief to Gaza, whose inhabitants, he said, “continue to face a horrific humanitarian situation.” He said that Hamas bore blame for the crisis but that it was also “incumbent on Israel” to protect civilians during its military campaign.

He is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and to Egypt on Thursday.

— Michael Crowley Reporting from Manila

Who was Marwan Issa, the Hamas commander killed by Israel?

The Israeli military has confirmed that Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing in Gaza and a presumed mastermind of the Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel, was killed in an Israeli airstrike this month.

A senior U.S. official, Jake Sullivan, had previously told reporters that Mr. Issa, one of the highest-ranking officials in Hamas, had been killed. But before a statement Tuesday , Israel’s military had said only that its warplanes had targeted Mr. Issa and another senior Hamas official in an underground compound in central Gaza.

With his death, Mr. Issa, who had been among Israel’s most wanted men, became the senior-most Hamas leader to be killed in Gaza since the start of the war. Israeli officials have characterized the strike as a breakthrough in their campaign to wipe out the Hamas leadership in Gaza.

But experts cautioned that his death — which Hamas has still not acknowledged — would not have a devastating effect on the armed group’s leadership structure. Israel has killed Hamas’s political and military leaders in the past, only to see them quickly replaced.

Here is a closer look at Mr. Issa and what his death means for Hamas and its leadership.

What was Mr. Issa’s role in Hamas?

Mr. Issa, who was 58 or 59 at the time of his death, had served since 2012 as a deputy to Mohammed Deif, the elusive leader of the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing. Mr. Issa assumed the role after the assassination of another top commander, Ahmed al-Jabari.

Mr. Issa served both on Hamas’s military council and in its Gaza political office, overseen by Yahya Sinwar, the group’s highest-ranking official in the enclave. Mr. Issa was described by Palestinian analysts and former Israeli security officials as an important strategist who played a key role as a liaison between Hamas’s military and political leaders.

Salah al-Din al-Awawdeh, a Palestinian analyst close to Hamas, described Mr. Issa’s position in the group as “part of the front rank of the military wing’s leadership.”

Maj. Gen. Tamir Hayman, the former Israeli military intelligence chief, said Mr. Issa was simultaneously Hamas’s “defense minister,” its deputy military commander and its “strategic mind.”

What does his death mean for the group?

Experts described Mr. Issa as an important associate of Mr. Deif and Mr. Sinwar’s, though they said his death did not represent a threat to the group’s survival.

“There’s always a replacement,” Mr. Awawdeh said. “I don’t think the assassination of any member of the military wing will have an effect on its activities.”

Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer and an expert on Palestinian affairs, said Mr. Issa’s death was a significant blow to the Qassam Brigades, though he conceded it wasn’t “the end of the world” for Hamas.

“He had a lot of experience,” Mr. Milshtein said. “His death is a big loss for Hamas, but it isn’t a loss that will lead to its collapse and it won’t affect it for a long time. In a week or two, they’ll overcome it.”

Mr. Milshtein added that even though Mr. Issa’s opinion was valued at the highest levels of Hamas, the fact he did not directly command fighters meant that his death did not leave a gaping hole in Hamas’s operations.

How has he been described?

Mr. Issa was a lesser-known member of Hamas’s top brass, maintaining a low profile and rarely appearing in public.

Gerhard Conrad, a former German intelligence officer who met Mr. Issa more than a decade ago, described him as a “decisive and quiet” person lacking charisma. “He was not very eloquent, but he knew what to say, and he was straight to the point,” Mr. Conrad said in an interview.

Mr. Conrad said he met Mr. Issa, Mr. al-Jabari and Mahmoud al-Zahar, another senior Hamas official, about 10 times between 2009 and 2011 in Gaza City. The men met as part of an effort to broker a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas.

“He was the master of the data on the prisoners,” Mr. Conrad said of Mr. Issa. “He had all the names to be negotiated on.”

Mr. Conrad, however, said it was apparent at the time that Mr. Issa was a subordinate to Mr. al-Jabari. “He was a kind of chief of staff,” he said.

Mr. Issa’s prominence grew only after Mr. al-Jabari’s assassination, but he still was keen to stay out of view. Few images of Mr. Issa are in the public domain.

Mr. Awawdeh, the analyst, called Mr. Issa a man who liked to “remain in the shadows” and who seldom granted interviews to the media.

In one of those rare interviews , Mr. Issa spoke in 2021 about his role in the indirect talks that resulted in Israel exchanging more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for a single Israeli soldier, Sgt. First Class Gilad Shalit, and his hopes for a future conflict with Israel.

“Even if the resistance in Palestine is monitored by the enemy at all hours, it will surprise the enemy,” he told Al Jazeera at the time.

In a separate interview with a Hamas publication in 2005, Mr. Issa lauded militants who raided Israeli settlements and military bases, calling the actions “heroic” and an “advanced activity.”

What is known about his early life?

Mr. Issa was born in the Bureij area of central Gaza in 1965, but his family hails from what is now the Ashkelon area in Israel.

A Hamas member for decades, he was involved with the militant group’s effort of pursuing Palestinians who were believed to have collaborated with Israel, according to Mr. Awawdeh.

Mr. Issa spent time in prisons operated by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israeli military, has said that Mr. Issa helped plan the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack. Mr. Issa is also thought to have planned operations aimed at infiltrating Israeli settlements during the second intifada in the 2000s, Mr. Milshtein said.

An earlier version of this article misstated the surname of a former Israeli military intelligence chief. He is Tamir Hayman, not Heyman.

How we handle corrections

— Adam Rasgon Reporting from Jerusalem

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Strong travel demand pushes Air Arabia to record third-quarter profit

Airline carried 4.7 million passengers during the quarter, a 21 per cent annual jump.

The airline added two leased Airbus A320 aircraft to its fleet, bringing it to 72 leased and owned Airbus A320 and A321. Photo: Air Arabia

The airline added two leased Airbus A320 aircraft to its fleet, bringing it to 72 leased and owned Airbus A320 and A321. Photo: Air Arabia

Sunil Singh author image

Budget airline Air Arabia posted record third-quarter profit on Monday, reflecting strong travel demand as passenger traffic rose.

Net profit for the three months to the end of September jumped to Dh522 million ($142.1 million), up 26 per cent from Dh416 million in the same period last year, the UAE's only publicly listed airline said in a statement on Monday.

The number of passengers carried during the period rose 21 per cent to 4.7 million.

“Air Arabia’s record performance in the third quarter of this year was driven by robust passenger demand and effective cost control measures implemented by the management team,” said Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammad Al Thani, chairman of Air Arabia.

Demand for air travel has risen sharply as passengers travel abroad for holidays after a pandemic-induced travel lull.

Global passenger traffic rebounded to 97.3 per cent of its pre-pandemic levels in September, driven by record domestic traffic, the International Air Transport Association said last week.

Air Arabia operates from seven airports: Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Abu Dhabi, Morocco, Egypt, Armenia and Pakistan.

The airline’s net profit for the first nine months of 2023 jumped 53 per cent on an annual basis to a record Dh1.32 billion, as the number of passengers carried soared 36 per cent to 12.4 million.

During the first nine months of the year, the airline added two leased Airbus A320 aircraft to its fleet, bringing it to 72 leased and owned Airbus A320 and A321.

The airline added a total of 17 new routes during the period, bringing the total network size to 206 routes.

“The demand for our value-driven product continues to be solid and we remain cautiously optimistic as we continue to navigate the ever-changing landscape of the current geopolitical and macroeconomic environment,” its chairman said.

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Blinken adds Israel stop to latest Mideast tour as tensions rise over Gaza war

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a visit to the Philippines that it’s urgent to make humanitarian assistance in Gaza a priority. According to the U.N., 100% of the population in Gaza is at severe levels of acute food insecurity and desperately in need of humanitarian assistance.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks as he arrives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein, Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks arrives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein, Pool Photo via AP)

FILE - Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference at the State Department, March 13, 2024, in Washington. Blinken will travel to Israel this week as part of his sixth urgent mission to the Middle East since Israel’s war with Hamas began in October. The previously unannounced stop comes as relations between the two countries have soured dramatically in recent weeks. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves while disembarking from an aircraft as he arrives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein, Pool Photo via AP)

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel this week as part of his sixth urgent mission to the Middle East since the Israelis’ war with Hamas began in October, as relations between the two countries have soured dramatically in recent weeks.

The visit comes amid a flurry of calls, planned trips by U.S. and Israeli officials and public airings of severe disagreements over the state of the conflict — notably Israeli plans to mount a major military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and what will happen to Gaza after the war ends.

The State Department said the Israel stop would cap Blinken’s latest Mideast tour that started in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and will continue in Egypt on Thursday. The top U.S. diplomat will be in Tel Aviv on Friday after talks with Arab leaders and foreign ministers in Jeddah and Cairo focused on the war in Gaza.

“In Israel, Secretary Blinken will discuss with the leadership of the government of Israel the ongoing negotiations to secure the release of all hostages,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. “He will discuss the need to ensure the defeat of Hamas, including in Rafah, in a way that protects the civilian population, does not hinder the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and advances Israel’s overall security.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers his speech after a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Jerusalem, Sunday, March 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, Pool)

Tensions between the U.S. and Israel over the prosecution of the Gaza war have been mounting for months over rising civilian casualties. And they have intensified as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said he will ignore President Joe Biden’s warnings not to start a large-scale ground operation in Rafah without credible plans to protect innocent Palestinians who have sought refuge there.

Biden, facing a tough re-election campaign ahead of November’s presidential election, is under growing domestic pressure to rein in Israel’s military response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel. Opposition to the war in the United States, Arab nations and much of the rest of the world has shaped the evolution of Blinken’s frequent trips to the region since October.

His first two visits were largely focused on re-affirming U.S. support for Israel in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attacks, but as civilian Palestinian casualties began to multiply and humanitarian conditions in Gaza deteriorated, his emphasis shifted to boosting humanitarian assistance and protecting innocents.

Since late last year, Blinken has also used his visits to stress the importance of Arab support for “day after” plans for Gaza and trying to coax Israeli leaders into accepting a status for the Palestinians that could help ensure Israel’s long-term security.

As that shift has taken place, though, the situation in Gaza has gotten worse and relations between the U.S. and Israel have nosedived. Public disagreements between Biden and Netanyahu have become more frequent and more intense.

In a phone call with Biden on Monday, their first in more than a month, Netanyahu agreed to send a high-level delegation to Washington to discuss plans for the proposed Rafah operation, and the Pentagon said Tuesday that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant would visit the U.S. capital next week.

In his talks in Jeddah, Cairo and Tel Aviv, Blinken is expected to focus on attempts to negotiate a cease-fire and hostage release deal, increase humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza by land, air and sea and plan for the territory’s post-conflict future.

In the Red Sea city of Jeddah, Blinken met with Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan. The prospect of normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel is seen as a potential point of leverage in pushing the Israelis on easing civilian suffering in Gaza.

Blinken and Prince Faisal “discussed the urgent need to protect all civilians in Gaza and immediately increase humanitarian assistance to those in need,” the State Department said, adding that “resolving the conflict” and “preparing for the post-conflict phase” remain a top priority.

Blinken also “emphasized the United States’ commitment to achieving sustained peace through the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel,” the department said in a statement.

But the Saudis have made clear that normalization won’t happen unless it is accompanied by a clear commitment from Israel to accept an independent Palestinian state by a date certain. Netanyahu and many members of his far-right government are opposed to a Palestinian state.

In Cairo on Thursday, Blinken will see Egyptian officials as well as meet with a six-member Arab committee that includes foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Morocco and the Palestinian Authority, according to an Egyptian diplomat.

This group has been charged with exploring ways to revamp, reform and revitalize the Palestinian Authority for a possible governance role in Gaza once the war is over. The West Bank-based Palestinian Authority has committed to reforms and replaced some of its top leadership.

Blinken’s discussions are also expected to touch on the cease-fire negotiations that have taken on new urgency as the humanitarian situation in Gaza has become increasingly dire.

Qatari officials, whose country is the main interlocutor with Hamas, said this week they were “cautiously optimistic” after talks with Israel’s intelligence chief in Doha. But, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said Tuesday that an Israeli ground operation in Rafah would set back any talks.

At least 31,819 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead. A United Nations food agency warned that “famine is imminent” in northern Gaza .

Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people in the surprise Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza that triggered the war, and and abducted another 250 people. Hamas is still believed to be holding some 100 people hostage, as well as the remains of 30 others.

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Saudi Arabia to Welcome the World's First Dragon Ball Theme Park Amid Controversy

I n a move that intertwines pop culture nostalgia with a dash of modern geopolitics, Saudi Arabia is poised to create a mecca for fans of the iconic Japanese anime series ‘Dragon Ball’—the world’s first theme park dedicated to the adventures of Goku and his friends. Spanning an expansive half a million square meters near the Saudi capital, Riyadh, the park will plunge visitors into the ‘Dragon Ball’ universe with over 30 rides and attractions, including a towering roller coaster encapsulated within a 70-meter Shenron dragon structure.

The announcement of the ambitious project, detailed by the Qiddiya investment company, arrives shortly after the passing of Akira Toriyama, the revered creator of the ‘Dragon Ball’ franchise. While Toriyama’s legacy looms large over the endeavor, his work’s translation into a theme park represents a bold fusion of Saudi Arabia’s cultural aspirations with a global entertainment phenomenon.

Toei Animation has confirmed that the Dragon Ball park will feature seven different zones, each themed around iconic locations from the beloved series. Visitors will be able to fully immerse themselves in settings such as Kame House and Capsule Corporation, traversing the narrative from the original ‘Dragon Ball’ series through to ‘Dragon Ball Super.’ Beyond the thrilling rides, the park promises state-of-the-art accommodations including hotels and restaurants designed to offer fans a complete and all-encompassing experience.

The park is a centerpiece of the larger Qiddiya project, a cultural and entertainment city that epitomizes Saudi Arabia’s sweeping ambitions to become a global hub for entertainment, sports, and the arts. Beyond the Dragon Ball theme park, Qiddiya will feature a Six Flags park with record-breaking roller coasters, international sports arenas, and a mixed-use entertainment and sports center, among other attractions.

Toei Animation President Takagi Katsuhiro voiced his approval, stating, “I was deeply impressed by the vision of bringing the people of Saudi Arabia cutting-edge, challenging entertainment that is completely different from anything they have experienced before.” Katsuhiro’s endorsement signifies a cross-cultural collaboration that seeks to innovate and inspire through a shared love for the storied anime.

However, the decision to locate the park in Saudi Arabia has spurred controversy. Critics point to the kingdom’s human rights record, its treatment of women, and the lack of LGBTQ+ rights, with social media responses indicating that some fans, despite their love for ‘Dragon Ball,’ are hesitant to support the project due to these issues. Quotes from social media reflect the conflicted sentiments: “Sorry LGBT Dragon Ball fans, you gonna have to wait another decade or so for a second park elsewhere,” and, “As much as I love Dragon Ball, I’ll never visit Saudi Arabia.”

Relevant articles:

– First Dragon Ball theme park to be built in Saudi Arabia

– Everything we know about the world’s first Dragon Ball theme park set to open in Saudi Arabia , Yahoo News Australia, Mon, 25 Mar 2024 12:10:11 GMT

– World’s first ‘Dragon Ball’ theme park to be built in Saudi Arabia , The Japan Times, Fri, 22 Mar 2024 08:08:00 GMT

– Saudi Arabia to build world’s first Dragon Ball theme park , Travel Tomorrow, Mon, 25 Mar 2024 10:47:56 GMT

In a move that intertwines pop culture nostalgia with a […]

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Ready for 2024: Trip.com Group reveal top travel trends

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Trip.com Group, a global leader in online travel services, reflects on the dynamic landscape of travel over the past year, offering insights into the trends set to shape the journey in 2024. China’s border reopening sparks global travel surge

With the opening of China’s borders, travel was greatly boosted by a wave of Chinese travelers with a pent-up demand for overseas travel. Trip.com data unveils a significant rise in outbound travel bookings, showcasing a six-fold increase compared to 2022. This trend is especially prominent during holiday periods, such as the 8-day Golden Week in October which witnessed an eightfold surge in outbound travel. This is a compelling prelude to a robust New Year Holiday season from 31 Dec 2023 to 3 Jan 2024, which recorded a 240 percent increase in bookings year-on-year from 2022.

The data also revealed that Chinese travelers have a strong interest in visiting Southeast Asia, with many of these countries topping the list of preferred outbound destinations in 2023:

Top 5 destinations for Chinese travelers in 2023: Thailand Japan South Korea Singapore Malaysia The thriving interest in outbound travel is expected to persist in 2024. Besides outbound travel, China’s inbound travel is also showing steady signs of recovery. In 2023, Trip.com saw four-digit growth in visitor numbers as compared with the same period in 2022 – surpassing 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

According to Trip.com data, China’s top source markets for inbound tourism include South Korea, Japan, Singapore, the United States, Australia, Malaysia, Canada, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Germany. These visitors’ preferred destinations in China are Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Zhuhai, Hangzhou, Foshan, Xiamen, Zhongshan, and Chengdu. In fact, seven out of ten hotel bookings made by overseas tourists are for Shenzhen.

Furthermore, Trip.com’s “China Travel Guide”, a comprehensive guide that provides inbound visitors to China with hotel, transport, payment and other travel-related information, has served nearly 100,000 overseas visitors since its launch in September.

We also partnered with e-payment service providers such as Alipay to simplify payment for overseas visitors, helping international tourists navigate their travels in China.

AI takes centre stage in predictive planning for 2024

As we venture in 2024, the travel landscape is undergoing a paradigm shift, driven by the widespread integration of AI. Leading this transformative change is TripGenie, an advanced AI travel assistant that is integrated into the Trip.com mobile app.

Leveraging cutting-edge large language model technologies, TripGenie, launched in 2023, has evolved into a personalized travel companion. It is reshaping the way we plan our journeys, from crafting bespoke itineraries, enabling instant bookings and delivering lightning-fast responses to user queries. For example, if you enquire “How do I plan a 5-day trip to Bangkok?” The travel assistant swiftly creates a personalized editable inquiry in under a minute, recommending tourist spots, shopping destinations and even provides booking links, images and city maps.

In the latter part of 2023, TripGenie’s user searches unveiled a rising interest in content related to “travel guide”, reflecting a growing demand for comprehensive travel-related information. Other popular searches were related to “flight”, “hotel”, “itineraries” and “attractions”.

Expanding beyond TripGenie, Trip.com introduced AI-powered curated lists to enhance the booking experience for users. “Trip.Best” that recommends the best travel options, “Trip.Deals” that shows top flights, accommodations, and other travel deals, and “Trip.Trends” which features the most popular travel topics and events based on user searches. These dynamic compilations are finely tuned to user preferences derived from real-time data, providing a sneak peek into the future of travel planning in 2024.

For instance, in the “Trip.Deals” list, global users have shown interest in the following top 5 destinations: London Bangkok Amsterdam Paris Hong Kong Music festivals and theme parks lead the way for 2024’s global attractions

As we set our sights on 2024, the world of travel is embracing the fun trend of event tourism, with festivals and iconic theme parks emerging as the cornerstones of trips.

Theme parks specifically are poised for a stellar rise, having witnessed an impressive 65 percent increase in bookings in 2023 compared to 2019 levels. According to Trip.com data, the top 10 theme parks globally are : Hong Kong Disneyland Universal Studios Japan Ocean Park Hongkong Universal Studios Singapore Tokyo Disneyland Tokyo DisneySea Everland, Korea Universal Studios Hollywood LEGOLAND, Malaysia Adventure Cove Waterpark

Theme parks also made five of the top ten most popular attractions globally in 2023, with Singapore Zoo, Gardens by the Bay, The Peak, S.E.A Aquarium, and Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan also making the top 10 list.

The arena of live entertainment, concerts and music festivals transcend borders, captivating audiences from every corner of the world. In our inaugural year of venturing into the concert category in 2023, Trip.com has already witnessed extremely positive outcomes. The category of “event+ticket” has become one of the most sought-after products on our platform. Globally, concerts and music festivals such as Jay Chou’s Carnival World Tour in Bangkok and Wang Leehom’s ONE concert in the same city were the top two most popular concerts respectively.

During Jay Chou’s Carnival World Tour in Bangkok, the search volume for Bangkok hotels experienced a notable surge of 175 percent in the week following the concert announcement (8-14 September), compared to the preceding week (1-7 September). Simultaneously, searches for air tickets to Bangkok exhibited a substantial increase of 213 percent. Furthermore, the number of hotel stay bookings in Bangkok on December 9 spiked by 129 percent when comparing the same two weeks. Additionally, flight bookings from China recorded a significant rise of 118 percent.

Concerts featuring international acts are anticipated to sustain their prominence as the most sought-after global events, promising a thrilling 2024 filled with unforgettable cultural experiences.

Here are the top 5 concerts and music festivals in 2023:

Jay Chou Carnival World Tour Bangkok Wang Leehom ONE concert Bangkok Rolling Loud Pattaya Jacky Cheung Macau JJ Lin Hong Kong The rise of sustainable travel and event tourism in 2024

Peering into the crystal ball for 2024, two pivotal trends look to be shaping the travel landscape: Sustainable travel and the ascent of event tourism. More than a numerical projection, these trends signify a shift in traveler consciousness and preferences.

According to Trip.com Group’s latest ESG report, more than 16 million customers have opted for low-carbon travel options, signaling a rising interest in eco-friendly exploration.

Trip.com Group’s low-carbon hotel standard initiative was also launched in 2023 with promising results. With over 1,500 partners shortlisted as low-carbon hotels, this suggests that sustainable accommodation is set to become a major trend.

Event tourism, encompassing concerts, festivals, and sporting events, is poised to gain momentum in 2024. With the eagerly anticipated 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the “ticket+hotel” category is expected to be a sought-after product, underscoring the growing importance of events in shaping travel choices.

As the story of travel evolves in the year ahead, Trip.com Group stands at the forefront, poised to guide adventurers into an era marked by exploration, innovation, and sustainability – to pursue the perfect trip for a better world.

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Saudi Arabia's massive wealth fund is reportedly in talks to acquire national airline Saudia

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  • The reported move for Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which oversees $925 billion in assets, would track with its goals to pour investment into tourism and transport assets.

It is not yet known how the airline would be valued. Talks are said to be in early stages, and could be delayed or axed altogether, Bloomberg reported.

Founded in 1945, Saudia has a fleet of 144 aircraft — 93 Airbus planes and 51 made by Boeing — and flies to more than 100 destinations, according to its website.

Saudi Arabia's behemoth sovereign wealth fund is in talks to buy the kingdom's national airline Saudia, Bloomberg reported over the weekend, citing people familiar with the matter.

The reported move for the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which oversees $925 billion in assets, would track with its goals to invest heavily in tourism and transport assets, as it aims to turn Saudi Arabia into a tourist hub and diversify its economy away from oil.

According to the initial report, the acquisition would see the PIF take over the airline's ownership from the government to increase its efficiency and ability to make profit. It could then either be privatized or merged with Riyadh Air, a separate airline owned by the PIF and launched in March 2023 to compete with other more established Gulf airlines.

Read the full report here .

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  5. Tourism in Saudi Arabia: Kingdom ranks second globally with 58 pct rise

    Published: 04 October ,2023: 09:20 AM GST Updated: 04 October ,2023: 10:08 AM GST. 2 min read. Saudi Arabia was ranked second, globally, in terms of tourist arrivals during the first seven months ...

  6. Travel

    Saudi Arabia's inbound tourists surge 142% to 14.2m in H1 2023. By ARAB NEWS · 20 December 2023.

  7. Arabian Travel Market 2022 goes back to the future

    996. The 2022 edition of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) will focus on the future of international travel and tourism and the likely challenges and the benefits of a resilient industry that is still coming to terms with the new normal. "Covid-19 has dominated our lives since March 2020 and continues to do so in many parts of the world.

  8. Travel News

    Yanbu architecture harks back to ancient Hijazi culture. By Tareq Al-Thaqafi · 09 February 2024. Explore the world with Arab News. Find the latest travel news, current travel topics, and tips for ...

  9. Saudi Arabia Surpassed 100 Million Tourists in 2023

    Saudi Arabia originally hoped to reach the massive milestone by 2030, but over 27 million international and over 79 million domestic tourists visited the Middle Eastern nation in 2023. Tourism officials in Saudi Arabia revealed a 390 percent surge in tourism activity license applications last year, with travel and tourism's impact and the ...

  10. Saudi Arabia reopens borders, resumes international flights

    Saudi Arabia has to date recorded more than 363,000 coronavirus cases, including 6,200 deaths [Saudi ministry of media via AFP] Published On 3 Jan 2021 3 Jan 2021

  11. WTTC Celebrates Saudi Arabia's Milestone Surpassing 100 Million

    Saudi Arabia's Travel & Tourism sector has demonstrated remarkable resilience, achieving a 156% increase in international tourist arrivals in 2023 compared to 2019. ... Breaking Travel News is a ...

  12. Latest Travel and Tourism News Updates

    9 Pressure increases on Ukraine to scrap 'sponsors of war' blacklist World News. 10 Egypt raises domestic fuel prices North Africa. On-ground coverage of international travelling and tourism ...

  13. Saudi Arabia aims to be among top 10 global destinations in 2024

    Travel & Tourism. Top Destinations All Sections Saudi Arabia aims to be among top 10 global destinations in 2024. In 2023, Al-Khateeb said that the tourism sector accounted for 5 per cent of GDP ...

  14. About Us

    Established in 2020, Arabia Travel News has an online readership of over 200,000 travel professionals that include decision makers, travel agents, tour operators as well as representatives of tourism boards, hotels and airline professionals and travel experts, from across the world. Through Arabiatravelnews.com, we aim to provide readers with ...

  15. Saudi Arabia tourism to see fastest growth in Middle East

    5 July 2022. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed the travel and tourism sector in Saudi Arabia is expected to grow at an average of 11% annually over the next decade, making it ...

  16. Saudi Arabia's travel and tourism grow 12% over pre ...

    Follow. RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's travel and tourism industry has grown 12 percent over its pre-pandemic market size, reaching an all-time high, said the Kingdom's tourism minister. Speaking at ...

  17. Arabia Travel News: Contact Information, Journalists, and Overview

    A compelling B2B online travel resource, Arabiatravelnews is committed to delivering the latest breaking travel news, trends and analysis, in-depth features, exclusive interviews and expert columns that can benefit travel professionals in staying up-to-date with the developments in the leisure and business travel industry.

  18. Saudi Arabia Travel News

    Breaking news from Saudi Arabia - Travel & Tourism, Fashion, Entertainment, Culinary, Culture, Events, Safety, Security, News, and Trends. Saudi Arabia travel & tourism news for travelers and ...

  19. Travel News

    Discover Riyadh: 5 unmissable adventures in Saudi Arabia's capital ... Travel News Eiffel Tower: What visitors need to know about strikes and closures 22/02/2024 ...

  20. Middle East Crisis: Netanyahu Rebuffs Biden and Vows to Press Ahead

    The Al Jazeera news network said that one of its journalists had been detained for 12 hours. ... He is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and to Egypt on Thursday.

  21. Strong travel demand pushes Air Arabia to record third-quarter profit

    Budget airline Air Arabia posted record third-quarter profit on Monday, reflecting strong travel demand as passenger traffic rose.. Net profit for the three months to the end of September jumped to Dh522 million ($142.1 million), up 26 per cent from Dh416 million in the same period last year, the UAE's only publicly listed airline said in a statement on Monday.

  22. Blinken adds Israel stop to latest Mideast tour as tensions rise over

    JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel this week as part of his sixth urgent mission to the Middle East since the Israelis' war with Hamas began in October, as relations between the two countries have soured dramatically in recent weeks.

  23. China returns to Arabian Travel Market after three years

    536. Arabian Travel Market 2022, Dubai -. Chinese exhibitors and travel professionals are making a return to Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2023 which is being held at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) for its 30th edition from May 1-4, for the first time in three years. China lifted its covid-related travel restrictions on January 8, 2023 ...

  24. Saudi Arabia to Welcome the World's First Dragon Ball Theme Park ...

    - Everything we know about the world's first Dragon Ball theme park set to open in Saudi Arabia, Yahoo News Australia, Mon, ... Travel Tomorrow, Mon, 25 Mar 2024 10:47:56 GMT.

  25. Kanoo Travel, Desert Adventures sign pact to drive Saudi tourism

    Arab News. May 03, 2023 21:40. Follow. GCC-based travel conglomerate Kanoo Travel and premium destination management company Desert Adventures Tourism have signed a memorandum of understanding to ...

  26. Ready for 2024: Trip.com Group reveal top travel trends

    Peering into the crystal ball for 2024, two pivotal trends look to be shaping the travel landscape: Sustainable travel and the ascent of event tourism. More than a numerical projection, these trends signify a shift in traveler consciousness and preferences. According to Trip.com Group's latest ESG report, more than 16 million customers have ...

  27. Saudi Arabia wealth fund in talks to acquire national airline ...

    The reported move for Saudi's Public Investment Fund, which oversees $925 billion in assets, would track with its goals to invest in tourism and transport.

  28. UAE travel tech sets high ambitions for Saudi expansion

    RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index slipped on Sunday, losing 39.56 points, or 0.31 percent, to close at 12,796.09. The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR6.58 ...