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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Thousands of <keyword id="19953645" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Chinese-migrants" source="keywords">Chinese migrants</keyword> flew into Ecuador last year in hopes of walking into the US.</li><li>But Ecuador is now cutting its yearslong <keyword id="22159339" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="visa-free-access" source="keywords">visa-free access</keyword> to Chinese citizens after a surge in <keyword id="19929766" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="migrants" source="keywords">migrants</keyword>.</li></ul>Ecuador is suspending visa-free access for Chinese travelers starting July 1, closing off a popular arrival spot used last year by thousands of Chinese migrants trekking to the <keyword id="19953646" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="US-Mexico-border" source="keywords">US-Mexico border</keyword>. Since 2016, Ecuador has allowed Chinese nationals to enter its borders without a visa and stay for up to 90 days. But in a statement on Tuesday seen by Business Insider, the <keyword id="20245662" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ministry-of-foreign-affairs" source="keywords">Ministry of Foreign Affairs</keyword> and Human Mobility said it was ending the program "due to the unusual increase in irregular migratory flows of Chinese citizens" who overstayed their 90 days. It is only one of two nations in the Americas that offers visa-free access to Chinese nationals. The other is Suriname, a smaller country of about 618,000 people. The Ecuadorian ministry noted that about 50% of all Chinese arrivals "have not left through regular routes and within the times established by law." Many people have used the country as a "starting point to reach other destinations in the Hemisphere," the ministry added. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.niskanencenter.org/new-data-suggests-political-repression-slowing-economy-driving-irregular-chinese-migration-to-u-s/">The Niskanen Center</a> assessed in May that Chinese travelers entered Ecuador 48,381 times in 2023 but only left the country legally 24,240 times that year. The deficit was "by far the highest number of any nationality," the US think tank wrote. It comes amid a surge in Chinese arrivals that year, with a 235% increase compared to the previous five-year average, per the Niskanen Center. The visa-free access recently made Ecuador a major entry point into the Americas for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukkLIFQWG4g&amp;t=1735s&amp;ab_channel=CNAInsider">Chinese migrants looking to travel through Central America and reach the US-Mexico border.</a> In response to Ecuador's Tuesday decision, a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/fyrbt_673021/jzhsl_673025/202406/t20240618_11437859.shtml">Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson</a> said the country "firmly opposes any form of <keyword id="22159340" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="smuggling-activities" source="keywords">smuggling activities</keyword>." "In recent years, Chinese law enforcement agencies have cracked down on crimes that hinder national border management and have maintained a high-pressure crackdown on various smuggling organizations and criminals engaged in smuggling activities, achieving remarkable results," the spokesperson said. <h2>How Chinese migrants use Ecuador to get to the US</h2>Thousands of migrants fly into Ecuador before traveling through Colombia, where they begin a grueling trek on <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/15/americas/darien-gap-migrants-colombia-panama-whole-story-cmd-intl/index.html" target="_blank">a perilous, cartel-run route</a> through a stretch of jungle called the <keyword id="22159341" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Darin-Gap" source="keywords">Darién Gap</keyword>. If successful, they emerge in Panama. Over 15,500 Chinese migrants were counted exiting the Darién Gap in 2023, per <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/through-darien-gap-new-path-chinese-asylum-seekers-united-states">Washington-based think tank The Wilson Center.</a> "This figure is nearly eight times as many from the same period in 2022 and more than 40 times that of 2021," wrote Joshua Peng, a program associate in refugee and displacement research at The Wilson Center. Many migrants then travel to Mexico, attempting to reach the US through its southern border. <keyword id="19959298" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="US-border" source="keywords">US border</keyword> officials said they <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/china-immigration-border-deportation-mayorkas-514f42ee56e80fe7eb7f9fcc71c4d55c">detained 37,000 Chinese migrants attempting to cross the border in 2023</a>, or 10 times the number detained in the year before. The true number of those attempting to cross the border is likely higher. <div type="image" title="Chinese migrants huddle in a line to receive colored wristbands from a US Border Patrol agent at a makeshift camp." height="2667" width="4000" msid="111136208" hostid="261"></div>The flow of Chinese migrants continued to surge in 2024, with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-border-mexico-chinese-migrants-60-minutes/">CBS reporting</a> in February that it observed <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-migrants-guide-douyin-how-to-cross-us-border-cbs-2024-2">600 migrants, many of whom were Chinese, entering the US in a single day.</a> The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability <a target="_blank" href="https://homeland.house.gov/2024/05/11/media-advisory-homeland-subcommittee-hearing-on-unprecedented-surge-of-chinese-illegal-immigration/">said in May</a> that the number of Chinese nationals encountered by authorities at the US border in March had jumped 8,000% from the same period in 2021. <keyword id="19959299" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="illegal-immigration" source="keywords">Illegal immigration</keyword> from the southern border has been <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/republicans-want-to-kill-bipartisan-border-bill-help-trump-campaign-2024-1">rising in political prominence</a> in the US, with Republican leaders <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-spent-nearly-9-million-busing-migrants-over-holidays-2023-1">pushing for increased border security</a> and saying southern states are unable to cope with a surge in migrants. Data on Chinese arrivals in Ecuador give some clues to the demographics of migrants reaching the US. According to the Niskanen Center, Shanghai is the Chinese region with the highest per-capita rate of people leaving to reach Ecuador, with 274 arrivals for every 1 million people in Shanghai. Hong Kong is second, with 257 arrivals per 1 million people, followed by Beijing, with 161 arrivals per 1 million people. Xinjiang is sixth, with 24 arrivals per 1 million people. Correction: June 21, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of the country Colombia.

The thousands of Chinese migrants headed to the US-Mexico border just lost their key entry point to America

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Israel launched "precise strikes" on Iran on Saturday, killing four soldiers.</li><li>The strikes were a long-awaited retaliation to an Iranian missile attack earlier in October.</li></ul>Iran is weighing up its next move after Israel executed a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-military-idf-targets-iran-retaliatory-strikes-missile-barrage-2024-10">long-awaited retaliation this weekend</a>.The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out "targeted and precise strikes" on Iranian military sites on Saturday. Four soldiers were killed following the attack, Iran's military said, according to the IRNA state news agency.The strikes, which came almost four weeks after Iran launched around <a target="_blank" rel="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/iran-attacks-israel-with-missiles-after-hezbollah-leader-killing-2024-10">180 ballistic missiles</a> at Israel in response to the killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, appear not to have been as deadly as some had predicted; experts <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-potential-counterattack-iran-options-assasinations-oil-nuclear-military-bases-2024-10">previously said</a> that Israel may have considered assassination attempts or targeted Iran's nuclear sites or oil facilities.Yaniv Voller, a senior lecturer in Middle East Politics at the University of Kent, told Business Insider that a larger-scale attack would have given Iran "no choice but to escalate" the conflict.He added that pressure from the US likely drove Israel to pursue a more restrained strategy.Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, a senior US administration official said the US was not involved with the planning or execution of Israel's retaliatory operation.However, they added that President Joe Biden and his national security team encouraged Israel "to conduct a response that was targeted and proportional with low risk of civilian harm."Questions are now being raised over how Iran will proceed.<h2 id="db90c4ab-9763-4969-8584-6e126fdc6d1b">Iran could look for an 'off-ramp' or launch a 'small-scale' retaliation</h2>Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Sunday that Iranian officials should decide how to respond to the attacks, adding that they "should neither be magnified nor downplayed."Iran's Foreign Ministry wrote on <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/IRIMFA_EN/status/1850144788290674718?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet">X </a>that Iran considered itself "entitled and obliged to defend against acts of external aggression."But Iran has also seemingly sought to downplay the impact of the strikes, saying it successfully intercepted the attacks while sustaining only "limited damage."Jonathan Panikoff, the director of the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/experts-react-israel-has-hit-back-at-iran-with-airstrikes-is-this-the-road-to-war-or-an-off-ramp/?utm_campaign=read&amp;utm_content=20241026&amp;utm_medium=organic_social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_term=AtlanticCouncil#panikoff">said</a> that could be a sign that Tehran "is looking for an off-ramp, even if it claims otherwise.""Iran may be frustrated that its deterrence against Israel has waned, but it's unlikely to be temerarious in trying to restore it," he said.Speaking to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/26/world/middleeast/israel-iran-attack-war.html?smid=tw-nytimesworld&amp;smtyp=cur">The New York Times</a>, Yoel Guzansky, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv-based think tank, said: "The music that I hear from Iran is basically saying, 'Oh, this is nothing,'" but he added that it still marked the "beginning of a new phase, a dangerous one, with many more sensitivities.""It is possible for the two sides to close this round at least, and that we will not see an Iranian retaliation — or if we'll see it, it will be small in scale," he added.Voller said that should Iran choose to respond, it could turn to its proxies to defend its nuclear program."We must remember that Israel's end goal is to bring the Iranian nuclear program to an end, and any Iranian retaliation will provide Israel with the opportunity to continue pursuing this goal," he added.<div type="image" title="Ali Khamenei" height="2071" width="3000" msid="114663076" hostid="261" sizebytes="247336"></div><h2 id="fda12d17-0f2c-4f4f-994c-14dce3f2ec0d">Israel could strike again</h2>Voller said Iran may be deterred from launching a direct counterattack because of Israel's track record and "proven capability of reaching Iranian sensitive targets."He added that Israel's targeting of Iran's military sites, including its air defense system, would allow it to launch further air attacks if Iran were to escalate the conflict.Israel is also one of the world's top military spenders as a share of GDP, and it receives large amounts of military aid from the US to maintain what it calls a "qualitative military edge" over neighboring countries.And recent events will likely have reinforced to Iran's leaders that the country is "overmatched militarily," Panikoff said, "which, for a regime that prioritizes stability above all else, makes entering into a full-scale war an illogical choice."The Israeli military has said it would be "obligated to respond" if Iran attacked again.Ellie Geranmayeh, the deputy head of the Middle East and North Africa program at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told The Times that further attacks from Israel shouldn't be ruled out, especially after the US election in November."There will be a sigh of relief across Iran and the region that the US managed to restrain Netanyahu for now," Geranmayeh said, referencing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."But the fear is that this is a temporary restraint leading up to the US elections. The 'lame duck' phase ahead could be a moment where we see renewed Israeli attacks inside Iran — as a perceived golden window to further deplete Iranian capabilities," she added.

Iran is weighing how to respond to Israel's attack. Here's what may happen next.

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="19900599" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Israel" source="keywords">Israel</keyword>'s Benjamin <keyword id="19934489" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Netanyahu" source="keywords">Netanyahu</keyword> has launched a series of devastating attacks on <keyword id="19925799" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hezbollah" source="keywords">Hezbollah</keyword>.</li><li>He has rejected or ignored a series of attempts by the US to head off a wider conflict.</li></ul>Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is rapidly escalating Israel's campaign against its regional foes, and trampling on US <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-warns-israel-dont-make-same-mistakes-sept-11-hamas-2023-10">diplomatic efforts</a> in the process. In the latest sign he is ignoring US warnings, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israeli-special-forces-launch-raids-into-lebanon-ahead-of-possible-ground-incursion-bf2fe94d?mod=hp_lead_pos1">The Wall Street Journal reported</a> that Israeli special operations forces were carrying out raids into southern Lebanon ahead of a possible ground incursion this week. The raids were aimed at gathering intelligence and discovering Hezbollah's weakness, the Journal said. Amir Avivi, a former senior Israeli military official, told the publication that a <keyword id="19974385" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ground-invasion" source="keywords">ground invasion</keyword> is imminent, a major escalation that Israeli officials have been threatening for months. "The IDF has made a lot of preparations for a ground incursion," Avivi said. "Overall, this always includes special operations. This is part of the process." The raids follow an unprecedented series of strikes from Israel. In the early hours of Monday, Israel struck central Beirut for the first time since 2006. It also confirmed it had killed Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin, a Hamas leader, in Lebanon. That came after the assassination of Hezbollah's top leader, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/netanyahu-tricked-nasrallah-with-un-speech-official-says-2024-9" target="_blank">Hassan Nasrallah</a>, in a massive explosion in a suburb of Beirut on Friday, which dramatically raised the stakes of Israel's yearlong war against Iran-backed militias in the wake of the October 7 terrorist attacks. Israel's stepped-up campaign against Hezbollah could be preparations for a ground invasion of Lebanon, and it risks triggering another direct confrontation with Iran. <h2>US attempts to deter a wider war</h2>US President Joe <keyword id="19918394" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Biden" source="keywords">Biden</keyword> has long been seeking to prevent Israel's campaign against Hamas in Gaza from spiraling into a bigger war, potentially dragging in the US and regional powers. However, some critics have claimed his approach has failed because the US-supplied arms have allowed Netanyahu's embattled government to continue escalating and widening the war. "Without <keyword id="20040842" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="US-support" source="keywords">US support</keyword>, this war would not have been possible," Gilbert Achcar, Professor of International Relations at SOAS University of London told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ6F4SGQPQg">France 24</a>. "It's actually the joint US-Israeli war." "It's not so much the Israelis who are treating him as an irrelevance," Jasmine El-Galal, who was a Pentagon advisor during the Obama administration, told <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/world/netanyahu-torched-hopes-ceasefire-watched-powerlessly-3300370" target="_blank">The Independent</a>. "It's that Biden is not actually trying seriously to effect any change. He's been complaining about Netanyahu for almost a year now," she said, "but in the meantime, the US continues to send arms and funds to Israel." The US last week appeared to have been on the brink of negotiating a cross-border ceasefire between <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-likely-used-bunker-buster-bombs-strike-kill-hezbollah-chief-2024-9">Israel and Hezbollah</a> — but just 24 hours later Israel assassinated Nasrallah. It was a strike that, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/how-israel-killed-hezbollahs-leader-in-underground-bunker-52946d6d?mod=hp_trendingnow_article_pos1">The Journal, shocked</a> US officials. The publication, citing unnamed US officials, said Israel did not tip off its most important ally about the strike before it was carried out. The White House described the killing as "a measure of justice for his many victims," though again urged against further escalation. Hezbollah was involved in the 1983 bombings of the US Embassy in Beirut and the US Marine Corps barracks. <div type="image" title="img66fa8d0b7518aa57bc9f1ddd" height="683" width="1024" msid="113823951" hostid="261" sizebytes="49606" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Beirut after Israel&amp;#39;s assassination of Hezbollah&amp;#39;s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in September.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>"We are shocked," one US official told CNN after Netanyahu rejected the ceasefire proposal before Israel launched the all-out attacks. It's the latest in a series of incidents in which the Israeli leader has ignored or rejected President Joe Biden's attempts to restrain Israeli military action in Gaza and, more recently, Lebanon. <h2>Netanyahu believes he is 'winning the war'</h2>A former British military chief said that may be because Netanyahu believes that he is winning the war in the Middle East. General Lord Richard Dannatt told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://news.sky.com/story/body-of-hezbollah-leader-hassan-nasrallah-recovered-in-tact-from-attack-site-in-beirut-13224541">Sky News </a>on Sunday that Netanyahu believes he can "press on" with the conflict. "A ground invasion of Lebanon is increasingly threatened," he told the outlet. He said the US has been urging Israel to pull back but hasn't been doing enough to "effectively" stop Netanyahu. "It is still supplying weapons and a lot of the stuff that Israel needs," Dannatt said. "On the one hand. the US is calling for restraint, but on the other. they are not effectively stopping Netanyahu, and he believes that he is winning this war." <h2>Ignoring red lines</h2>The US is by far the biggest supplier of arms to Israel. According to the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts">Council on Foreign Relations</a>, since the start of Israel's war with Hamas on October 7, 2023, the US has put in place legislation providing at least $12.5 billion in military aid to Israel. Overall, since 2009, it has provided Israel with $3.4 billion in funding for missile defense, including $1.3 billion in the development of Israel's Iron Dome system, according to figures from the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-security-cooperation-with-israel/">Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.</a> It's a big trading partner outside of arms, too. US exports to Israel last year amounted to just over $14 billion, per figures from the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/exports/israel#:~:text=United%20States%20Exports%20to%20Israel%20was%20US%2414.03%20Billion%20during,COMTRADE%20database%20on%20international%20trade.">United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade.</a> Despite this, Netanyahu has ignored a series of red lines from Biden over how Israel conducts its campaign and rejected US pressure to reach a cease-fire deal with Hamas. <a target="_blank" href="https://foreignpolicy.com/author/sarah-leah-whitson/">Sarah Leah Whitson</a>, the executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, in an article for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/09/18/biden-israel-icc-icj-gaza-netanyahu-international-law/">Foreign Policy in September, </a>argued that Biden's reluctance to hold Israel to account was undermining the rules-based international order the president claims to champion. Some are claiming that as his term in office coming to an end, Biden is giving up. The White House has pushed back against these claims. "No, he absolutely hasn't given up," White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr4xnq2zqlgo">told CNN </a>about reaching a deal to end the war in Gaza last week. After the devastating blows Israel has dealt to its enemies in recent days, exposing the limits of their power and the reach of Israeli intelligence and weapons, Netanyahu likely believes that the impetus is with him. But a widening conflict would likely not come to a conclusion quickly, US officials are warning. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned in the wake of last week's collapsed US peace effort that if Israel rejects diplomacy, it will result in "greater instability and insecurity, the ripples of which will be felt around the world." "The choices that all parties make in coming days will determine which path this region is on with profound consequences for its people now and possibly for years to come,"Blinken said. Correction: September 30, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of a former Pentagon advisor. It's Jasmine El-Gamal, not Jazmine El-Galal.

Israeli commandos raid Lebanon — the latest sign Netanyahu is ignoring Biden's warnings

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Israel's tourism industry has faced a major drop in visitors and revenues since October 7, 2023.</li><li>Businesses have closed due to Hamas' rocket strikes in the south and Hezbollah's fire in the north.</li></ul>Israel's tourism industry has suffered significantly since Hamas launched its terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023.According to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/doclib/2024/tourism_q1_24/t01.pdf">statistics</a> from Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of tourists dropped from around 300,000 in September to around 89,000 in October, falling to around 38,000 in November.So did tourism income.In 2023, it declined from around $1.4 billion in the third quarter to around $464 million in the last quarter, according to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/publications/doclib/2024/tourism_q1_24/t18.pdf">data</a> from Israel's CBS."2023 was supposed to be a record year for tourism in Israel; we were close to 4.5 million tourists," said Peleg Lewi, a foreign affairs advisor to Israel's Tourism Ministry.The downward trend has continued over the first six months of this year, with just 501,100 visitors compared to 2.1 million in the same period last year, per <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/pages/2024/%D7%9B%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%A9%D7%9C-%D7%9E%D7%91%D7%A7%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%A9%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%9C-%D7%91%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99-2024.aspx">data</a> from Israel's CBS.The lack of visitors has been compounded by <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://saleslink.aa.com/en-US/blog/2023/travel_advisory/israel-security-incident-travel-notice-exception-policy.html">many</a> <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/aegeanairlines/status/1710655166687461491">international</a> <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.aircanada.com/uk/en/aco/home/book/travel-news-and-updates/2023/civil-unrest-israel.html#/">airlines</a> <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/airindia/status/1710945413401088065?lang=en">pausing</a> flights to Israel in the wake of Hamas' terrorist attacks, with some still <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-08-12/ty-article/lufthansa-and-swiss-extend-suspension-of-flights-to-israel-until-at-least-august-21/00000191-46e7-d7bb-a1df-efef150e0000">canceling</a> flights as recently as this week.Samuel Scanlon, a Ph.D. candidate with University College Dublin's School of Sociology, pointed to other factors in a piece for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://theconversation.com/war-in-gaza-has-plunged-israels-tourism-industry-into-a-crisis-it-will-struggle-to-recover-from-229151">The Conversation</a> in May.He said Israel's tourism sector may be suffering from the fallout of US college student-led <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/harvard-students-groups-signed-anti-israel-letter-without-them-knowing-2023-10">protests</a>, calls for boycotts and divestitures, and social media advocacy and solidarity movements, which could hurt its revenues.As many as 46,000 businesses have been forced to shut down since the October 7 terrorist attacks, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/up-to-60000-israeli-businesses-may-close-in-2024-as-war-takes-toll-on-economy/#:~:text=CofaceBDI%20says%2046%2C000%20businesses%20have,services%20sectors%20are%20hit%20hardest">business information</a> company CofaceBDI, relayed by The Times of Israel last month.<h2 id="4d49ed02-db0c-445b-9a38-1960e49b42e1">Relying on domestic clients, exporting abroad, and cost-cutting</h2>David Tucker, general manager of the Ramada by Wyndham Hotel in Jerusalem, said that the hotel is facing a challenge due to a "big" drop in international visitors.Since the Hamas' October 7 terrorist attacks, the hotel's tourism mix has changed, he told BI, with about 30% of tourists now coming from Israel and 70% from abroad, versus about 10% of Israelis and 90% of foreigners before the attacks.And, "obviously," the hotel's profits "dropped" last year, Tucker added.He declined to give BI the hotel's profit figures or the number of visitors staying there before and after the October 7 terrorist attacks, but he said he expected the hotel to "break-even, plus" this year.Yossi Navi, general manager of the Carlton Hotel in Tel Aviv, said the hotel also weathered the war over the last 10 months.<div type="image" title="A view of the 'Carlton' hotel in 2013" height="3355" width="4497" msid="112604987" hostid="261" sizebytes="1331924"></div>He told BI that the hotel made a bigger profit in the first quarter of this year than in the same quarter last year, but he declined to give BI the hotel's profit numbers.He said the hotel stayed afloat by cutting back on outsourcing services, turning to cheaper food and amenity suppliers, and getting support from Jewish organizations — all while housing war evacuees for free in 60 of its 270 rooms.The Israeli government paid $250 per room per night for a couple, he said, which means he hasn't had to pay extra to house evacuees."This is the only way to survive," he said. As of May, just 65% of the hotel was full, up from 45% in October and 55% between December and April, he said.Israeli tour guides, meanwhile, told BI in May that they have had to pivot to "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-gaza-tour-guides-pivot-october-7-tours-make-money-2024-6">grief tourism</a>" as their only means of making money as the sites of the October 7 attacks are the only ones in demand.On October 7, 2023, more than a thousand people, mostly civilians, were <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-wreckage-destruction-at-israeli-festival-attacked-by-hamas-2023-10">killed</a> in Hamas attacks on Israel, with the Nova musical festival being the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-festival-attendees-played-dead-for-hours-during-hamas-attack-2023-10">site</a> of the highest number of casualties.Israel retaliated <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-israel-trying-to-achieve-in-gaza-bombing-2023-12">against Hamas in Gaza,</a> which, according to the UN, has led to more <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/gaza-war-un-revises-death-toll-women-and-children">than 35,000 Palestinian deaths</a>.<h2 id="3e61ee4b-bedf-4d14-8658-bc3486993066">On the brink of war</h2>Things have not been as easy in northern Israel.Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group operating out of Lebanon, have regularly exchanged fire since Hamas staged its cross-border terrorist attack from Gaza.While this tit-for-tat has so far been contained to the border region, it could <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wider-war-hezbollah-could-unleash-unprecedented-missile-barrage-against-israel-2024-7">escalate into a wider war</a>.Tensions rose again recently after Israel <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-tried-killing-top-hezbollah-commander-beirut-with-us-bounty-2024-7">killed</a> a Hezbollah commander in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.The IDF <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/IDF/status/1818397182602707308">said</a> the attack came in retaliation to the armed group's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-promised-revenge-attack-on-hezbollah-yet-to-follow-through-2024-7">lethal rocket strike</a> on a soccer field in the part of the Golan Heights controlled by Israel.Yaara Alfasi, vice president of marketing and export at Mount Odem Winery, said the family business, located in the northern part of the Golan Heights, near the Israel-Lebanon border, has borne the brunt of constant fire in the area.<div type="image" title="Smoke billowed after a hit from a rocket fired from southern Lebanon over the Upper Galilee region in northern Israel on July 8, 2024." height="1333" width="2000" msid="112604988" hostid="261" sizebytes="158012"></div>He told BI that the winery was declared a closed military area from October until November, at the peak of the harvest season, and the winery's sales dropped 70–80% in the last quarter of 2023.Even now, he said, there is still "uncertainty as to whether we will be able to get to the vineyards because the security situation warms up and relaxes every time.""Although the market has gradually recovered, it is still far from what it was at the beginning of the war," he said.Gal Yaniv, CEO of Pelter Winery, a family-owned business in the Golan Heights, finds himself in a similar situation.He told BI that most of the vineyards are on the Lebanese-Syrian border, and some are out of reach due to cross-border fires and explosions."Due to fires caused by Hezbollah missiles, we have already lost about 7% of the expected crops," he said, adding: "If the situation continues, we are in big trouble."He said his profits have dropped by about 5% since October 7.<h2 id="ef44bd6e-4229-415d-9c8e-43aa2e04e6c6">The tourism industry has been there before</h2>Having worked for more than 40 years in Israel's hospitality industry, Tucker of the Ramada by Wyndham Hotel said the country has experienced multiple crises, including two intifadas and two Lebanese wars."And once things settle, within a couple of months, tourists come back, big time, because people want to visit Israel and the Holy Land," he said.Tucker said he hopes the war will end "as soon as possible."However, for this to happen, the hostages must be released, he said, adding that he wouldn't want to be in Netanyahu's "shoes" right now.Navi from Tel Aviv's Carlton Hotel echoed Tucker's comments, saying ending the war with Hamas would "absolutely" help.Lewi, the foreign affairs advisor to Israel's Tourism Ministry, predicted that if the conflict ends, the industry's recovery would take longer than in past conflicts, likely between three and six months."In the last 20 years, it was usually short cycles of violence — two or three weeks. We have been there for 10 months," he said.According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/up-to-60000-israeli-businesses-may-close-in-2024-as-war-takes-toll-on-economy/#:~:text=CofaceBDI%20says%2046%2C000%20businesses%20have,services%20sectors%20are%20hit%20hardest">business information</a> company CofaceBDI, relayed by The Times of Israel, as many as 60,000 businesses are expected to close in 2024."We were making plans for the day after, the day after, and the day after hasn't arrived," Lewi said.

Israel's tourism industry is struggling under the weight of the war

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The Middle East is anticipating strikes on the anniversary of the October 7 terror attacks. </li><li>Israeli offensives have targeted several Middle Eastern regions, including Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria.</li></ul>The Middle East is on high alert for military strikes timed to coincide with the first anniversary of the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hamas-goal-october-7-attack-israel-gaza-war-2023-11">October 7 terror attacks on Israel.</a>On this day last year, Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel throughout 22 different border communities that killed more than 1,200 people and left 250 taken hostage.The Israeli response to the attacks was one of the deadliest in the history of Gaza. It launched a series of air strikes and a ground invasion of Gaza that killed 41,600 Palestinians in a year, according to the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ochaopt.org/content/one-year-unimaginable-suffering-7-october-attack">Gaza Health Ministry. </a>On Monday, memorials were held across Israel to mark the anniversary. "We're still stuck in October 7th, 2023, in one unending day of terror, of fear, of anger, of despair," Yuval Baron, whose father-in-law Keith Siegel is a hostage in Gaza, told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-marks-oct-7-anniversary-under-shadow-escalating-war-2024-10-07/">Reuters</a>.According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-marks-oct-7-anniversary-under-shadow-escalating-war-2024-10-07/">the news wire</a>, some Palestinians with entry permits to Israel were unable to enter the country on Monday.Military spokesperson Adm. Daniel Hagari said: "We are ready with increased forces in anticipation for this day."In Iran, airports were temporarily closed on Sunday amid fears that Israel could strike infrastructure facilities in response to its missile attacks last week.Meanwhile, Hezbollah said its rockets hit a military base south of Haifa in the first direct strike on Israel's third-largest city. Israeli media said 10 people were injured.Fifteen other rockets were fired at the Israeli city of Tiberias, according to Israeli officials.In the early hours of the anniversary of the attacks, the IDF <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://t.me/idfofficial/10912">posted on Telegram</a> that five projectiles were fired into Israel from Gaza.Elsewhere, the IDF said in a statement that soldiers of its 91st Division had begun "localized and targeted operational activity in southern Lebanon," which has been rocked by bombings in the last two weeks.Israel's military also intensified its air strikes on Gaza and Lebanon, including Hezbollah intelligence targets and a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in the area of Beirut.It said it killed Khader Ali Tawil, a Hezbollah commander believed to be behind an attack on the Israeli town of Kfar Yuval in January.Georgios Petropoulos, head of the UN Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) suboffice in Gaza, told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-hamas-attack-anniversary-war-11-07-24-intl-hnk/index.html">CNN</a> that he was "woken up by renewed bombing here in Rafah, Gaza on Monday. "The only thing that's left in Gaza, would say is hope. Our supplies are almost zero."Since the Hamas incursion last year, Israel has stepped up attacks on Gaza, Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon. It also promised to strike Iran in response to a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-potential-counterattack-iran-options-assasinations-oil-nuclear-military-bases-2024-10">ballistic missile attack on Israel</a> last week.Israel's escalating offensive on Lebanon has left 2,000 dead, per Lebanon's Health Ministry. The BBC estimated about <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lebanon-israel-invasion-flee-bombings-hezbollah-refugee-2024-9">a million people have been displaced</a> following the attacks.There are fears the conflict could escalate into a full-blown war in the Middle East. That could <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="c-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/global-economy-israel-iran-war-oil-growth-inflation-hurricane-china-2024-10">choke global economic growth and reignite inflation</a>.With oil prices rising, the industrial recession the US economy is experiencing could snowball into a full-fledged downturn."Oil prices spiking, energy prices spiking in the past, have been enough to tip the economy from a slowing into a recession," Jake Oubina, a Piper Sandler economist, said last week in an interview with <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" class="" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0-dWISdBvs">Fox Business</a>.

The Middle East is on high alert for October 7 anniversary attacks as Israel intensifies strikes on Gaza and Lebanon

<keyword id="19896016" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="new-delhi" source="keywords">New Delhi</keyword> [India], January 29 (<keyword id="19904948" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ani" source="keywords">ANI</keyword>): The Indian economy is projected to grow close to 7 per cent in the financial year 2024-25 that starts this April, said the <keyword id="19908390" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ministry-of-finance" source="keywords">Ministry of Finance</keyword> in its monthly review report. The strength of domestic demand has driven the economy to a 7 per cent plus growth rate in the last three years. <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword>'s economy grew 7.2 per cent in 2022-23 and 8.7 per cent in 2021-22. The Indian economy is expected to grow 7.3 per cent in the current financial year 2023-24, remaining the fastest-growing major economy. The robustness seen in domestic demand -- private consumption and investment -- traces its origin to the reforms and measures implemented by the government over the last 10 years, said the report issued by <keyword id="19912839" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="department-of-economic-affairs" source="keywords">Department of Economic Affairs</keyword>. "The supply side has also been strengthened with investment in infrastructure - physical and digital - and measures that aim to boost manufacturing. These have combined to provide an impetus to economic activity in the country," the review report noted. "Accordingly, in FY25, real GDP growth will likely be closer to 7 per cent." There is, however, considerable scope for the growth rate to rise well above 7 per cent by 2030, the report added. "The rapidly expanding digital infrastructure is continuously improving institutional efficiency. Technological progress is picking up pace with rising collaboration with foreign partners in the production of goods and services. Decisive steps have been taken to speed up human capital formation. Finally, the overall investment climate is increasingly becoming more favourable with sustained enhancement in the ease of doing business." In the next three years, India is expected to become the third-largest economy in the world, with a GDP of USD 5 trillion, it asserted. India can aspire to become a USD 7 trillion economy in the next six to seven years (by 2030), it said. "This will be a significant milestone in the journey to delivering a quality of life and standard of living that match and exceed the aspirations of the Indian people." Firm GDP growth forecasts, inflation at manageable levels, political stability at the central government level and signs that the central bank is done tightening its monetary policy have all contributed to painting a bright picture for the Indian economy. (ANI)

Indian economy likely to grow 7% next financial year: Ministry of Finance

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Iran launched a drone strike on Israel despite warnings from the Biden administration.</li><li>The attack shows how much the US has lost control of the conflict in Gaza, a military expert said.</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/iran-launches-drone-attacks-on-israel-2024-4">Iran's barrage of attacks against Israel</a> represents a stark reminder of how the US has been unable to ameliorate tensions in the Middle East and contain the ongoing conflict in Gaza, a national security and foreign policy expert told Business Insider.On Saturday, Iran launched missiles and drones against Israel in what officials from Iran described as retaliation for the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/deadly-israeli-strike-syria-could-put-us-forces-crosshairs-iran-2024-4">airstrike on the country's consulate in Syria</a> nearly two weeks ago. The airstrike killed two Iranian generals and five officers, the Associated Press reported.The US anticipated that Iran would strike back, but it was only a matter of when and how. President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday that he expected Iran to attack Israel "sooner, rather than later."The president also re-affirmed <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-iran-readying-cruise-missiles-possible-strike-on-israel-reports-2024-4">US support for Israel</a> and had a simple, brief message to Iran: "Don't."Iran's brazen dismissal of Biden's warning may be the result of a series of inconsistent strategic moves from the US with its handling of the Israel-Gaza war, Sean McFate, a national security and foreign policy expert at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship &amp; Public Affairs, told Business Insider.<h2>'No strategic competence'</h2>McFate told BI that Iran's retaliation was a way to show the international stage that the country had a backbone after Israel's airstrike in Damascus. But, more broadly, Saturday's attack shows just how effective <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-is-there-fighting-in-israel-and-what-caused-the-conflict-2023-10">Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel</a> was at stoking chaos in the Middle East, McFate said.Hamas "launched this as a way to disrupt the melting of relations between Israel and the Gulf states," McFate said, referring to how diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab countries had been thawing before the war. Biden similarly stated that Hamas was trying to disrupt his administration's efforts to normalize ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, as well as with others in the region, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/29/gulf-gaza-israel-uae-bahrain/">The Washington Post</a> reported.With the war in Gaza, the US wedged itself into the battle and has so far shown conflicting messages to the world through its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-military-aid-us-sending-toward-israel-hamas-attack-2023-10">military support for Israel</a> and simultaneous <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/senate-foreign-aid-proposal-includes-billions-humanitarian-aid-gaza-ukraine-2024-2">humanitarian aid for Gaza</a>, leaving Gulf countries such as Iran to feel more defensive, the expert said."The fact that the Biden administration is both arming Israel and sending aid to Gaza shows the world that the Biden team has no strategic competence," McFate said. "They've already lost control."McFate pointed to the ongoing <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-did-russia-invade-ukraine-putin-politics-motive-2023-6">Russia-Ukraine war</a> as another example of one of the Biden administration's strategic misfires.Throughout the 2024 election cycle, Biden has said that the US must <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-changes-tone-ukraine-support-as-long-as-we-can-2023-12">maintain its support for Ukraine</a> against Russian aggression. But the president's support for Israel runs counter to the reasons he said the US should support Ukraine."The administration wants to be the firefighters in a raging house fire," McFate said. "But I think for them to do that, they need to extend more leverage on the government of Israel by conditioning further military support. Israel has basically said, 'Drop off your munitions. Don't answer the door. Just leave,' like your Uber driver. I think the administration has been a little too timid in how to deal with Israel."In recent weeks, US support for Israel showed some signs of wavering as Biden called for an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-threatens-us-support-for-israel-in-netanyahu-call-2024-4">immediate cease-fire in Gaza</a> during a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the White House.In a Saturday statement after Iran's strikes, Biden condemned the attacks and said he had spoken with Netanyahu over the phone to say that the US remains steadfast in its support for Israel."I've just spoken with Prime Minister Netanyahu to reaffirm America's ironclad commitment to the security of Israel," Biden said. "I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks — sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel."However, in the same call, Biden told the prime minister that the US will oppose a counterattack against Iran, a senior White House official told <a target="_blank" href="https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-04-13-24/h_9af74a4dbc6d0137a9a2597bd1f5e2a6">CNN</a>.A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Iran's strike on Israel shows how the Biden administration has lost control of the conflict, foreign policy expert says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Qin Gang was once one of China's most powerful men.</li><li>But the former foreign minister has suffered a spectacular fall from grace.</li></ul>China's former foreign minister Qin Gang is working in a low-level publishing job after falling foul of China's leader Xi Jinping, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/09/08/qin-gang-whereabouts-foreign-minister/">The Washington Post reported.</a>Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the publication that Qin was now listed as an employee at World Affairs Press, a publishing company associated with China's foreign ministry.The officials reportedly told the publication that the demotion took place in spring. One characterized it as a "fall from grace" but also said, "he's off the hook.""He's not going to jail, but his career is over," one source told the Post.One of the officials told the outlet that the demotion is likely intended as a warning to others.Qin was formerly one of China's most powerful figures and a trusted aid of Xi, rising to the position of foreign minister and member of China's state council, the cabinet of China's top officials.His rise to the top was swift. He was known as one of the most prominent of a new generation of "wolf warrior" officials, who brought an aggressive and confrontational style to China's diplomacy.But his downfall was just as rapid. In June 2023, Qin disappeared from public view and <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/qin-gang-resigns-legislature-foreign-minister-china-fd15a275387c28e711727eb1bfc4b66f">officially resigned</a> from his position in China's state legislature in February.Rumors circulated about what had led to Qin's dismissal, with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/world/china/chinas-ex-foreign-minister-ousted-after-alleged-affair-senior-officials-told-fdff4672">The Wall Street Journal </a>reporting that Qin had been dismissed because he had an extramarital affair during his stint as China's ambassador to the US, sparking security concerns.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/27/china/china-qin-gang-fu-xiaotian-intl-hnk/index.html">The Financial Times</a> reported that the person Qin had an affair with was TV host Fu Xiaotian. Around that time, Fu reportedly had a child through surrogacy in the US, the report said.Qin was replaced by his predecessor as foreign minister, veteran diplomat Wang Yi.The Chinese embassy in the UK did not immediately respond to a request by Business Insider for comment.

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