Arab World
Regional coverage across the Middle East and North Africa
Gaza Strikes Persist as Gulf Accelerates Trade Independence and AI Buildout
- Palestine under Siege: Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City have continued despite a nominal ceasefire agreement, exposing the persistence of occupation and collective punishment. A weekend strike killed Al Jazeera cameraman Ahmed Wishah, while a subsequent attack on the Rimal district killed a 16-year-old girl walking to her school exams. These operations have pushed the Palestinian death toll past 1,000 since the truce was ostensibly reached, maintaining the reality of violence over diplomatic normalisation.
- Tunisian Financial Sovereignty: The Central Bank of Tunisia secured a $500 million term loan facility from the African Export-Import Bank on 22 June in Cairo. The capital will finance the import of essential commodities, including fuel and fertilisers, and meet maturing trade debt obligations. This African-led financial integration bypasses traditional European multilateral institutions, setting a sovereign tone ahead of the Tunisia Investment Forum in Tunis this week.
- Emirati Trade Realignment: Following Abu Dhabi’s historic departure from OPEC, the UAE is rapidly consolidating its position as an unconstrained economic connector. A new report from the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre confirms South-South trade has surpassed North-North flows, reaching 35 per cent of global commerce. Emirati state entities are leveraging this structural shift, utilising domestic infrastructure to bypass Western choke points and link Asian, African, and Latin American markets.
- Saudi Sovereign AI: Riyadh is converting its sovereign wealth into hard technological capability, moving beyond experimental pilots to systemic economic integration. A new KPMG enterprise index shows Saudi organisations are scaling artificial intelligence deployments and generating returns faster than global peers. This execution is anchored by the state-backed AI entity Humain and major Public Investment Fund allocations to secure domestic data centres and advanced compute infrastructure.
- US-Iran Diplomatic Track: High-level US-Iran negotiations under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding concluded their first round in Switzerland on 22 June. The American delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance, and the Iranian team under Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reported encouraging progress toward stabilising regional energy markets. The establishment of a joint high-level committee signals a pragmatic shift toward direct management of security and economic alignments.