Extorting and Draining Their Blood: How al-Arjani Took $88 Million from Gaza Residents

Ibrahim al-Arjani, a solitary figure, stands behind the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the beleaguered Gaza Strip, since the Israeli aggression on October 7, 2023.

Al-Arjani and his associates have become akin to "gatekeepers," allowing or denying passage at their discretion. Here, passage visas are not merely documents, but rather dollars; those seeking to escape Gaza must pay for their salvation.

War Profiteer

Al-Arjani, leading his group, intersects all lines of finance, business, power, and international relations. In less than a decade, he transformed from a former fugitive to a leader of Sinai tribes' militias (Union of Sinai Tribes), assisting the army in its war against armed groups.

This man has become one of the closest confidants to the head of the Egyptian regime, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and the head of General Intelligence, Abbas Kamel, aiding the agency in executing specific missions, particularly unlawful operations.

There is a famous term for those who exploit human miseries and city destruction as spoils; they are known as crisis merchants and war rich. This applies to the process of evacuating Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and those behind it, who have profited immensely since the beginning of the aggression until hours before storming Rahaf by the Israeli army.

This was revealed by an investigative report conducted by The Times on April 27, 2024, detailing the business of al-Arjani and his men overseeing this operation.

Hala for Consultancy and Tourism Services Company, owned by Ibrahim al-Arjani, has earned nearly $88 million over the course of weeks, from desperate Palestinians wishing to leave Gaza, having obtained $5,000 for each person.

According to the newspaper, the way out for Gazans is part of a list that brings individuals to the Rafah border crossing, where they can then leave Gaza for Egypt. However, they do not travel as refugees but as clients paying the price to flee the war.

Path to Salvation

The British newspaper further elaborated that the process of leaving Gaza begins with direct family members contacting the company to register names of those wishing to leave at its main office in Nasr City, east of Cairo, or appointing a proxy to do so.

However, it's not as simple as that; sometimes it takes several attempts before reaching the reception office and handing over the $5,000 in cash for each adult traveler to complete the registration process.

Nevertheless, under a new rule introduced on March 12, 2024, “Hala accepted registrations only from direct relatives. An exception could be made … but it would cost an additional $1,500 in cash [to become $6,500 for each person with waiting times of up to three weeks]. For the Palestinians still trapped in Rafah … Hala may be their only hope,” The Times.

“It is understood that Hala Consulting and Tourism, which holds an effective monopoly on commercial transit through the Rafah crossing, charges adults upwards of $5,000 (£4,000) to flee, with those under 16 paying $2,500 … the company may have made at least $88 million.”

Hala is among several companies operating under the umbrella of the Organi Group, owned by the Egyptian businessman who has turned into a militia leader called the "Union of Sinai Tribes," supervised by the army and general intelligence.

Al-Arjani is dubbed King of the Crossing, due to his unique influence on the peninsula and the sole entry and exit point to Gaza.

Hala was established in 2019 to provide a distinctive VIP transportation service from Gaza to Egypt, costing between $350 and $1,200.

This service allowed beneficiaries to avoid the long wait for approval and the arduous journey lasting between one and three days across the Sinai Peninsula to reach Cairo, interspersed with several checkpoints.

Well-off Gaza residents use this service to facilitate their travel, relied upon by those needing assurance of arriving on a specific date, such as students or emergency patients, for example.

Death in Silence

On February 12, 2024, Mada Masr relayed testimonies from 15 Palestinians and Egyptians who contacted al-Arjani's brokers to inquire about leaving Gaza.

At that time, two of them succeeded in leaving the territory by paying $5,000 each as fees, while three claimed to have been victims of fraud and deception by travel brokers, while others were desperate to raise funds.

Rasha, a Palestinian struggling to feed her children inside a tent in Deir al-Balah in Gaza, said: "We are dying in silence."

She mentioned that she contacted the most famous Egyptian agency, Hala Tourism, and one of the agents told her that she would need to pay a total of $40,000 for her Palestinian husband and three children to obtain Egyptian coordination.

"We cannot afford this amount under any circumstances, and most people in Gaza cannot bear such a cost."

On January 31, 2024, Ahmed Ben Shamsi, communications director for the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch, said, "The issue of exploiting Rafah crisis situations is not new. In 2022, we already gathered testimonies about Egyptian officers blackmailing Palestinians to allow them to leave Rafah."

"But there are new reports of increased bribery rates in these situations for those desperate to leave are disheartening."

Ben Shamsi condemned the ongoing Israeli bombardment and "greedy surveillance" by Egypt at the borders, where "Egyptian coordination" has become the only way out.

King of the Crossing

Ibrahim al-Arjani, who has come to be known as the "King of the Crossing," controlling the entry and exit of Palestinians, is no ordinary figure in the Egyptian regime led by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

He had previously been imprisoned in 2008, subjected to severe torture after police officers abducted him in retaliation for the shooting death of his brother.

Upon his release in 2010, he established the "Sons of Sinai Construction Company" to secure truck routes across the peninsula based on tribal alliances.

Today, the company is active in delivering aid to Gaza and previously secured a $500 million contract from the Egyptian government for Gaza's reconstruction in 2021.

In 2015, al-Arjani founded a state-owned company, Misr Sinai For Industrial Development and Investment, while simultaneously establishing a militia supported by the Egyptian armed forces to combat the growing threat posed by ISIS-affiliated groups in the region.

Al-Arjani is also the main sponsor of the al-Ahly football club, the largest in Africa, and manages the showroom of the German automotive giant BMW in Cairo.

The Times reported his participation in the Saudi Vision 2030 program launched by Mohammed bin Salman.

From Gaza and Saudi Arabia to Libya, on May 18, 2023, Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid al-Dbeibeh held a meeting with a high-level Egyptian delegation, including businessmen and officials from the Egyptian intelligence service.

The main declared goal of the meeting was to unveil the outlines of a new Egyptian approach in Libya, based on two main pillars: security and economics.

However, the remarkable aspect of the meeting between al-Dbeibeh and the Egyptian officials was the appearance of Egyptian businessman Ibrahim al-Arjani, who is closely associated with the security apparatuses, and whose companies execute many projects for those agencies inside and outside Egypt.

His Relationship with ‘Israel’

What's striking is that the man who controls the crossing and the lives of the besieged Palestinians reportedly has noteworthy ties to “Israel.”

On February 8, 2024, at the peak of the onslaught on Gaza, an activist account X named Mohammed Fathi posted a picture of al-Arjani's daughter, stating, that Tayiba, Ibrahim's daughter, is being treated discreetly at Hadassah Medical Center in occupied Palestine, Jerusalem.

"This  was in an incident where Ibrahim's nephew died and more than one person were injured, and they arrived in Jerusalem for treatment on January 25."

Israeli Channel 7 reported that “Israel” had agreed to allow the daughter of the Egyptian businessman to receive treatment there in an unusual initiative during this period.

It noted that the Israeli government's approval reflects its desire to maintain close relations with Egypt.

It mentioned that tensions between Cairo and Tel Aviv had escalated recently due to Israeli demands to control the Philadelphia Corridor border between the Egyptian side and the Gaza Strip.

It also reported that Sisi had declined a phone call from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

However, the gesture of treating members of the al-Arjani family in occupied Jerusalem will contribute to easing tensions and showing goodwill, according to Channel 7.

Sisi's relationship with al-Arjani is neither hidden nor managed through intermediaries. Sisi made sure to meet him as part of a group of Sinai tribesmen on May 13, 2015, and appeared in a photo released by the media discussing Sinai's files with him.

He met him again on July 15, 2021, during his meeting with businessmen, where he appointed him as an ambassador for the 'Decent Life' initiative, in the presence of the head of the General Intelligence Service, Abbas Kamel.