GCC Business News and Strategic Realities

Israel responded with alarm to both the U.S. decision to raise sanctions on Syria and President Trump's meeting with Ahmed al-Sharaa. Prime Minister Netanyahu apparently asked President Trump not to lift Syria sanctions in advance of Trump's journey to the area. Given that the fall of the Assad program in December 2024, Israel has been careful of the former jihadist now in control in Damascus.

It has likewise released soldiers in southern Syria, occupying an increasing location beyond the demilitarized zone separating the two countries. Moving forward, Israel will remain wary of the Sharaa government and will likely continue to apply military pressure on Syria, including an expanded profession of southern Syria and occasional air campaign.

Israel's openness to the Trump administration's efforts to broker a nonaggression pact between Israel and Syria stays an open question. Instead, Syria might end up being a locus of local power competition in between Israel and Turkey as both look for to exert their impact over Syria's trajectory. Because the fall of Assad in December 2024, Saudi Arabia has lobbied hard for the United States to raise Syria sanctions, mentioning them as a key barrier to the nation's restoration.

For MBS, the U.S. choice stood as an important triumph emerging from Trump's journey. Going forward, Saudi Arabia will likely encourage the United States to continue along its path towards normalization with Syria.

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, with no tip of a shift in policy. Going forward, Netanyahu can be expected to continue along the same trajectory in Gaza, particularly since a remarkable shift in U.S.

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On the contrary, as the international outcry global Protest's actions in Gaza grows and with an increasing number of U.S. allies moving to declare a State state, Israel is likely to most likely its position further, even more by reinforced prospect of possibility U.S. ongoing.

Riyadh instantly turned down Trump's proposition and reiterated its refusal to normalize relations with Israel in the lack of considerable progress towards the development of a Palestinian state. The kingdom has actually likewise highly criticized Israel for the absence of sufficient aid flowing into Gaza. Following the August 22 starvation declaration, Saudi Arabia, while not calling out the United States, faulted the Israeli occupation as the cause of the "humanitarian disaster" in Gaza.

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Its leading role in promoting a two-state solution at the 80th UN General Assembly stands as its most popular effort in this regard. The kingdom will likely continue its behind-the-scenes lobbying of the United States to push Israel to relent on these needs, holding out on any progress toward normalization with Israel in the absence of movement on these concerns.

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Its engagement in the Middle East is shaping the contours of the emerging local orderwhether by default or style. Particularly, its decisions on Iran, Syria, and Gaza all touch on core difficulties in the region and hold the prospective to move each in a favorable instructions. Hazard and deepening conflict stand on the flip side of each opportunity.

As international trade patterns straighten, a brand-new investment corridor is taking shape, linking capital from the Gulf to Latin America. Sovereign wealth funds, corporations, and family workplaces from the Gulf Cooperation Council ("") are investing billions across Latin America's energy, agriculture, fintech, and infrastructure sectors. Trade between Mexico and GCC states increased more than 33% in between 2021 and 2022, while non-oil trade with the UAE has actually almost doubled over the past decade.

3 Company sentiment reflects this momentum64% of Latin American executives plan to broaden engagement with the Gulf, specifically in agriculture, renewable resource, and digital services. 4 Highlighting this momentum, Saudi Arabia just recently opened its very first Chamber of Commerce office in Miami, more signifying the growing links between Gulf capital and the Americas.