What will it take for Syria to win permanent US sanctions relief?

Special What will it take for Syria to win permanent US sanctions relief?
For post-Assad Syria to rebuild after years of conflict, interim President Ahmad Al- Sharaa must obtain full and permanent lifting of restrictions imposed byy the US and other western economies. (AFP/File)
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Updated 08 June 2025
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What will it take for Syria to win permanent US sanctions relief?

What will it take for Syria to win permanent US sanctions relief?
  • Temporary relief already available, but a lasting end to sanctions depends on several steps, experts say
  • They say that without deep reforms and sustained diplomacy, reprieve could be short lived

LONDON: After 13 years of war and international isolation, a glimmer of hope emerged for Syria on May 23 when the US government announced a temporary easing of sanctions, ushering in an opportunity for recovery and reconstruction.

But Syrian officials warn the relief may be short-lived. Without the full and permanent lifting of restrictions, they say, the door to recovery could close just as quickly as it opened, especially with fresh conditions now attached.

Syria’s interim government, led by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, must navigate multiple US demands, from expelling foreign militants to integrating Kurdish forces and verifying the destruction of chemical weapons.




Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has in six months established himself internationally and had crippling sanctions removed, but still needs to rebuild national institutions, revive the economy and unite the fractured country. (AFP/File)

The road to full sanctions relief is further complicated by political realities in Washington, where a divided Congress remains largely opposed to reengaging with Damascus.

“There is considerable disappointment in Damascus that sanctions are only being suspended temporarily and not definitively,” Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, told Arab News.

“But many of the sanctions were imposed by Congress and will have to be lifted by Congress.”

Following President Donald Trump’s announcement at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Riyadh, where he offered Syria “a fresh start” by removing sanctions, the Treasury Department issued General License 25, temporarily suspending key restrictions.




A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace shows US President Donald Trump (L), Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2nd L), Syria's interim president Ahmed Al-Sharaa (R), Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan (2nd R) meeting in Riyadh on May 14, 2025. (AFP/File)

The Treasury said relief was conditional on Syria denying safe haven to terrorist groups and protecting religious and ethnic minorities.

Parallel to this, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a 180-day Caesar Act waiver to enable humanitarian aid to enter Syria and help restore essential services like electricity, water, and sanitation.

FAST FACTS

• Western sanctions began in 1979 and expanded sharply after 2011 in response to Bashar Assad’s crackdown on protests.

• Arms embargoes and dual-use controls remain, and new targeted sanctions have been imposed on human rights abusers.

• In May, the US and EU lifted most economic sanctions after Assad’s ouster and the formation of a transitional government.

This relief marked the first phase of a broader US strategy aimed at pushing Syria’s interim government to meet a series of sweeping demands.

A US official told AFP that while some Trump administration officials support immediate sanctions relief, others prefer a phased approach, making broader actions conditional on Syria meeting specific targets.

This shift reflects a broader recalibration of Western expectations. “With the fall of the Assad regime, the US and its European allies have clearly stepped back from the demands they once directed at Damascus,” Syrian-Canadian analyst Camille Otrakji told Arab News.

“US Vice President JD Vance has repeatedly stated that his country will not promote democracy anymore. The new priority is stability, seen as a foundation for regional development and future peace agreements.”




People celebrate in Damascus' Omeyyad Square after US President Donald Trump's decision to lift sanctions in Syria, on May 13, 2025. (AFP/File)

As part of that shift, Washington’s earlier insistence on compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254 — adopted in 2015 to guide Syria’s democratic transition — has largely faded. In its place, Otrakji said, are more focused and immediate goals.

These include “removing foreign fighters from the Syrian army, and possibly from Syria as a whole, reaching a settlement with the Kurds, and reducing violence against Alawite communities in the coastal region,” he added.

Yet even these goals appear increasingly flexible. On June 2, the US gave its approval to a Syrian government plan to integrate thousands of foreign fighters into the national army, as long as the process remains transparent, Reuters reported.

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Despite the evolving benchmarks, progress is underway. Landis explained that Al-Sharaa is already working to fulfill US demands, including the removal of Palestinian militants.

“Al-Sharaa has arrested or expelled the top Palestinian militia leaders and militants living in Syria,” Landis said.

Leaders of pro-Iran Palestinian factions allied with the Assad regime have left Syria under pressure from the new authorities, handing over their weapons as part of a broader US demand to curb Iran-backed groups, two Palestinian sources told AFP on May 23.

Syria is also under pressure to integrate the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces into the national military and take responsibility for prisons and camps holding thousands of Daesh fighters and their families.




In March, Syria’s President Ahmad Al-Sharaa and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi signed an agreement to integrate the civil and military institutions of the autonomous Kurdish administration in the northeast into the national government. (AFP/File)

“Securing Daesh detention centers will require coordination with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the SDF,” Landis said. “The effort to find a compromise with US-backed Kurdish forces continues, despite some important differences.

“Two Aleppo neighborhoods were recently turned over by the YPG to Al-Sharaa’s forces. More recently, a prison exchange was negotiated between the new Syrian military and the SDF.”

After Daesh’s 2019 defeat, thousands of suspected affiliates were detained in northeast Syria. The largest camps, Al-Hol and Roj, are run by the Kurdish-led AANES and guarded by the SDF.

Security at the camps is fragile, with the SDF stretched by conflict with Turkish-backed forces and resource shortages. A 2023 Daesh attack on Al-Hasakah prison highlighted the risk of mass escapes.

Aid cuts and a potential US withdrawal from northeast Syria threaten further destabilization, raising fears that thousands of Daesh-affiliated detainees could escape, posing a threat to global security.




A view of Camp Roj in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province, where relatives of Daesh militants are being held. (AFP/File)

Recent developments suggest progress. In March, the Al-Sharaa government reached key agreements with the Kurdish-led administration to integrate the SDF into the national army, place Kurdish-run institutions under central control, and jointly manage Daesh detainees.

The first formal steps followed in May, when Kurdish authorities and Syria’s transitional government agreed on a plan to evacuate Syrians from Al-Hol camp to government-held areas. Previously, repatriations had only been allowed to Kurdish-controlled zones.

In Aleppo, the YPG, which is a component of the SDF, handed over the Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighborhoods to the Syrian government. These predominantly Kurdish districts had been under YPG/SDF control since 2015 and remained semi-autonomous even after the Assad government recaptured most of Aleppo in 2016.

Landis said similar negotiations are underway with Druze militias in southern Syria. “Arriving at an agreed-upon solution will take time, and both sides are still debating how integral regional militias will be allowed to remain and how much local authority their commanders will have,” he said.

In the past few months, Syria’s Druze community has faced renewed violence and sectarian tensions, particularly in areas near Damascus like Jaramana and Sahnaya.




Mourners lift a portrait during the funeral of members of Syria's Druze community who were killed in recent sectarian clashes, in Salkhad village in the country's southern Suwayda governorate on May 3, 2025. (AFP/File)

In late April, a fake audio recording triggered sectarian violence in the Damascus suburbs of Jaramana and Sahnaya. Clashes between Druze militias, Sunni groups, and government forces left dozens of civilians dead. Human rights monitors reported extrajudicial killings by government-affiliated units.

Although local ceasefires and Druze police deployments have eased tensions in some areas, mistrust runs deep. The Druze community continues to demand greater autonomy and security guarantees, resisting government disarmament efforts amid fears of future attacks.

Concerns have been amplified by sectarian killings targeting the Alawite community, particularly along Syria’s coast. Between March and April, armed groups — including some tied to the transitional government — reportedly executed Alawite civilians and torched their homes.




People march in Syria's northeastern city of Qamishli on March 11, 2025 to protest the wave of sectarian violence targeting the Alawite minority in the west of the country. (AFP/File)

On May 28, the EU sanctioned two individuals and three groups accused of carrying out the attacks. While the EU has announced plans to lift sanctions, foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the move was “conditional” and that sanctions could be resumed if Syria’s new government does not keep the peace.

That fragile peace, analysts say, depends largely on how the transitional leadership navigates Syria’s complex social fabric.

“For the new transitional leadership, managing relationships with Syria’s minorities and broader society, each with its own aspirations, will be essential to stabilizing the country and permanently lifting the threat of renewed US sanctions,” said Otrakji.

One of the most delicate challenges, he said, lies in the relationship between Al-Sharaa’s administration and the Alawite community, which held significant power under the Assad regime.

“Establishing a local police or security force may be the only realistic solution to address mutual distrust and security concerns,” Otrakji said.

“A handful of influential Alawite figures are now competing to convince their community, and other relevant actors, that they should play the leading role in protecting and representing Alawite interests.”

As Al-Sharaa struggles to assert control, fears of renewed civil war persist. US Secretary of State Rubio warned in late May that Syria could be only weeks away from “potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions.”

Progressing to the next phase of US relief will require Syria to normalize relations with Israel by joining the Abraham Accords.




Israeli troops deploy at the buffer zone that separates the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights from Syria, on December 9, 2024, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams. (AFP/File)

The Abraham Accords are a series of diplomatic agreements brokered by the US in 2020, normalizing relations between Israel and several Arab states, including the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco.

The accords marked a significant shift in Middle East diplomacy, promoting cooperation despite the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Their potential has been undermined, however, by public outcry over the war in Gaza.

Al-Sharaa has publicly signaled openness to diplomacy. “Al-Sharaa has reiterated his interest in arriving at a peaceful settlement with Israel,” said Landis. “He has made a trust-building gesture by handing over the papers of the celebrated Israeli spy Eli Cohen.”

The Syrian leadership reportedly approved last month’s return of 2,500 documents related to Cohen and his personal belongings. The Israeli spy was executed in Damascus in 1965. The archive, held by Syrian intelligence for six decades, included his letters, will, passports, and surveillance photos.

“Word is that Al-Sharaa has also been trying to reach out to Israel through the US to establish talks,” Landis said.


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• Syria and Israel in direct talks focused on security, sources say


Despite Syrian statements seeking peace, Israel remains cautious. Since Assad’s fall, it has conducted hundreds of airstrikes across Syria and seized control of a UN-monitored buffer zone inside Syrian territory.

Taking advantage of the power vacuum left by Assad’s ouster, Israeli troops advanced up to 15 km into Syrian territory, establishing a “zone of control” and a deeper “sphere of influence” reaching as far as 60 km east, particularly in the southern provinces of Quneitra and Daraa.

In recent months, the Israeli military has established at least nine new outposts and bases, including on Mount Hermon and within the former UN Disengagement Observer Force buffer zone. Israeli troops have also occupied several Syrian villages, including Al-Kiswa, Al-Bakar, Sidon Al-Golan, Sidon Al-Hanout and Al-Adnaniyah.

Still, some see potential for reconciliation. “The majority of Syrians want to have peace at home, and they want to have peace in the neighborhood,” Ibrahim Al-Assil, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told CNN.

“The issue with Israel is indeed complicated, but it’s not impossible to resolve the issue of the Golan Heights, the issue of the borders, the concerns of both sides are deep and real and serious,” he said.  

“That means there is a potential for these talks, and there is a potential for having better relationships on both sides, the Israeli side and the Syrian side, and that require both sides to start a long journey of negotiations between both of them, and to believe that a better relationship is possible between both of them.”

Ghassan Ibrahim, founder of the Global Arab Network, believes the real test for Al-Sharaa’s government will be reconstruction.




For post-Assad Syria to rebuild after years of conflict, interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa must obtain full and permanent lifting of restrictions imposed by the US and other western economies. (AFP/File)

“The key now is how the government handles the opportunities it’s being given — politically, regionally, internationally, and with sanctions relief,” he told Arab News.

“Will reconstruction be piecemeal, with companies simply seizing contracts, or will it be comprehensive?”

The London-based Syria analyst added: “Ideally, reconstruction should create opportunities for businesses, rebuild infrastructure, improve quality of life, and promote stability — ultimately encouraging refugees to return.

“These are the things that will be judged moving forward.”
 

 


Syria wildfires contained after 10 days

Syria wildfires contained after 10 days
Updated 11 sec ago
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Syria wildfires contained after 10 days

Syria wildfires contained after 10 days
  • The blazes in the coastal province of Latakia broke out amid an intense heatwave across the region
  • UN humanitarian agency says fires destroyed about 100 square kilometers of forest and farmland
DAMASCUS: Syria’s civil defense agency on Sunday said wildfires in the country’s west, which have burned vast tracts of forest and farmland and forced evacuations, had been brought under control after 10 days.
In a statement on Facebook, the agency said that “with the spread of the fires halted and the fire hotspots brought under control on all fronts” on Saturday, teams on the ground were working to cool down the affected areas while monitoring any signs of reignition.
The blazes in the coastal province of Latakia broke out amid an intense heatwave across the region.
The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said they destroyed about 100 square kilometers of forest and farmland.
As the fires raged, Syrian emergency workers faced tough conditions including high temperatures, strong winds, rugged mountainous terrain and the danger of explosive war remnants.
This all comes in a country worn down by years of conflict and economic crisis.
In a post on X, the Syrian minister for emergencies and disaster management, Raed Al-Saleh, said that with help from Turkish, Jordanian, Lebanese, Qatari and Iraqi teams, firefighters had “managed to halt the spread of the fire on all fronts, which is the most important step toward containing the wildfires.”
The “situation is the best it has been in the past 10 days,” Saleh said late Saturday.
“There are still threats due to wind activity, but we are working to prevent any renewed expansion of the fires,” the minister added.
The civil defense agency said rescue teams were carrying out “operations to open pathways and firebreaks within the forests... in order to reduce the chances of fire spreading in case of reignition.”
Authorities have not reported any casualties, but several towns in Latakia province have been evacuated as a precaution.
Nearly seven months after the ousting of longtime ruler Bashar Assad, Syria is still reeling from more than a decade of civil war that ravaged the country’s economy, infrastructure and public services.
With man-made climate change increasing the likelihood and intensity of droughts and wildfires worldwide, Syria has also been battered by heatwaves and low rainfall.
In June, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said that Syria had “not seen such bad climate conditions in 60 years.”

59 Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israeli airstrikes or shot dead while seeking aid

59 Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israeli airstrikes or shot dead while seeking aid
Updated 13 July 2025
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59 Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israeli airstrikes or shot dead while seeking aid

59 Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israeli airstrikes or shot dead while seeking aid
  • The Red Cross said its field hospital saw its largest influx of dead in more than a year of operation after the shootings

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: At least 31 Palestinians were fatally shot on their way to an aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, while Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians including four children, Palestinian hospital officials and witnesses said.

There were no signs of a breakthrough in ceasefire talks following two days of meetings between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump had said he was nearing an agreement between Israel and Hamas that would potentially wind down the war.

The 31 Palestinians shot dead were on their way to a distribution site run by the Israeli-backed American organization Gaza Humanitarian Foundation near Rafah in southern Gaza, hospital officials and witnesses said.

The Red Cross said its field hospital saw its largest influx of dead in more than a year of operation after the shootings, and that the overwhelming majority of the more than 100 people hurt had gunshot wounds.

Airstrikes in central Gaza’s Deir Al-Balah killed 13 including the four children, officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said. Fifteen others were killed in Khan Younis in the south, according to Nasser Hospital. Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Intense airstrikes continued Saturday evening in the area of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.

Israelis rallied yet again for a ceasefire deal. “Arrogance is what brought the disaster upon us,” former hostage Eli Sharabi said of Israeli leaders.

Teen’s first attempt to pick up food ends in death

The 21-month war has left much of Gaza’s population of over 2 million reliant on outside aid while food security experts warn of famine. Israel blocked and then restricted aid entry after ending the latest ceasefire in March.

“All responsive individuals reported they were attempting to access food distribution sites,” the Red Cross said after the shootings near Rafah, noting the “alarming frequency and scale” of such mass casualty incidents.

Israel’s military said it fired warning shots toward people it said were behaving suspiciously to prevent them from approaching. It said it was not aware of any casualties. The GHF said no incident occurred near its sites.

Abdullah Al-Haddad said he was 200 meters from the aid distribution site run by the GHF close to the Shakoush area when an Israeli tank started firing at crowds of Palestinians.

“We were together, and they shot us at once,” he said, writhing in pain from a leg wound at Nasser Hospital.

Mohammed Jamal Al-Sahloo, another witness, said Israel’s military had ordered them to proceed to the site when the shooting started.

Sumaya Al-Sha’er’s 17-year-old son, Nasir, was killed, hospital officials said.

“He said to me, ‘Mom, you don’t have flour and today I’ll go and bring you flour, even if I die, I’ll go and get it,’” she said. “But he never came back home.”

Until then, she said, she had prevented the teenager from going to GHF sites because she thought it was too dangerous.

Witnesses, health officials and UN officials say hundreds have been killed by Israeli fire while heading toward GHF distribution points through military zones off limits to independent media. The military has acknowledged firing warning shots at Palestinians who it says approached its forces in a suspicious manner.

The GHF denies there has been violence in or around its sites. But two of its contractors told The Associated Press that their colleagues have fired live ammunition and stun grenades as Palestinians scramble for food, allegations the foundation denied.

In a separate effort, the UN and aid groups say they struggle to distribute humanitarian aid because of Israeli military restrictions and a breakdown of law and order that has led to widespread looting.

The first fuel – 150,000 liters – entered Gaza this week after 130 days, a joint statement by UN aid bodies said, calling it a small amount for the “the backbone of survival in Gaza.” Fuel runs hospitals, water systems, transport and more, the statement said.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war and abducted 251. Hamas still holds some 50 hostages, with at least 20 believed to remain alive.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 57,800 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.


Iran says it would resume nuclear talks with US if guaranteed no further attacks

Iran says it would resume nuclear talks with US if guaranteed no further attacks
Updated 13 July 2025
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Iran says it would resume nuclear talks with US if guaranteed no further attacks

Iran says it would resume nuclear talks with US if guaranteed no further attacks
  • Following the US strikes, Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, which led to the departure of inspectors
  • Top Iran envoy says that under Iranian law, the country will answer the agency’s request for cooperation ‘case by case’

Iran’s foreign minister said Saturday that his country would accept a resumption of nuclear talks with the US if there were assurances of no more attacks against it, state media reported.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a speech to Tehran-based foreign diplomats that Iran has always been ready and will be ready in the future for talks about its nuclear program, but, “assurance should be provided that in case of a resumption of talks, the trend will not lead to war.”

Referring to the 12-day Israeli bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and military sites, and the US strike on June 22, Araghchi said that if the US and others wish to resume talks with Iran, “first of all, there should be a firm guarantee that such actions will not be repeated. The attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution based on negotiations.”

Following the strikes, Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, which led to the departure of inspectors.

Araghchi said that under Iranian law, the country will answer the agency’s request for cooperation “case by case,” based on Iran’s interests. He also said any inspection by the agency should be done based on Iran’s “security” concerns as well as the safety of the inspectors. “The risk of proliferation of radioactive ingredients and an explosion of ammunition that remains from the war in the attacked nuclear sites is serious,” he said.

He also reiterated Iran’s position on the need to continue enriching uranium on its soil. US President Donald Trump has insisted that cannot happen.

Israel claims it acted because Tehran was within reach of a nuclear weapon. US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60 percent – a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an interview published Monday said the US airstrikes so badly damaged his country’s nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction.


Why BCG’s involvement in Gaza marks an all-time low for consulting firms

Why BCG’s involvement in Gaza marks an all-time low for consulting firms
Updated 13 July 2025
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Why BCG’s involvement in Gaza marks an all-time low for consulting firms

Why BCG’s involvement in Gaza marks an all-time low for consulting firms
  • FT investigation examined Boston Consulting Group’s role in Gaza aid planning, including plans for Palestinian relocation
  • BCG has disavowed the work and fired two senior partners — but the scandal sheds light on the wider industry’s irresponsibility

LONDON: A Financial Times investigation, published on July 4, found that a consulting firm connected to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation secured a multimillion-dollar contract to help shape the initiative and a proposal for the possible “relocation” of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

The Boston Consulting Group was found to have played a central role in designing and managing the US- and Israeli-backed project, which aimed to replace the UN as the primary coordinator of humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Amid growing criticism, BCG denied any ongoing involvement in the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. In a June 7 statement, the firm said it initially provided “pro bono support” in October 2024 to help launch “an aid organization intended to operate alongside other relief efforts.”

BCG has faced heavy scrutiny for its role in Gaza’s postwar reconstruction, mainly through its work with the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. (AFP file)

The firm said two senior US-based partners who led the initiative “failed to disclose the full nature of the work” and later engaged in “unauthorized” activities outside the firm’s oversight.

“Their actions reflected a serious failure of judgment and adherence to our standards,” the firm said. “We are shocked and outraged by the actions of these two partners. They have been exited from the firm.

“BCG disavows the work they undertook. It has been stopped, and BCG has not and will not be paid for any of their work.”

The company emphasized it is strengthening internal controls to prevent future breaches. “We deeply regret that in this situation we did not live up to our standards,” the statement said. “We are committed to accountability for our failures and humility in how we move forward.”

FAST FACTS:

• A Financial Times investigation examined BCG’s role in Gaza aid planning, including controversial proposals for Palestinian relocation.

• BCG disavowed the work and fired two senior partners, but documents suggest deeper involvement and lapses in internal oversight.

• The scandal underscores wider concerns about consulting firms’ ethics, with similar controversies involving PwC, KPMG, EY and McKinsey.

Following the FT story, BCG issued another statement on July 6 disputing aspects of the reporting. “Recent media reporting has misrepresented BCG’s role in post-war Gaza reconstruction,” the firm said.

BCG reiterated that the initiative was not an official company project and was carried out in secret. “Two former partners initiated this work, even though the lead partner was categorically told not to,” the statement read.

“This work was not a BCG project. It was orchestrated and run secretly outside any BCG scope or approvals. We fully disavow this work. BCG was not paid for any of this work.”

Buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations stand in northern of Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel on July 10, 2025. (AP Photo)

However, individuals familiar with “Aurora” told the FT that BCG’s involvement ran deeper. The report revealed that BCG created a financial model for Gaza’s postwar reconstruction that included scenarios for mass displacement.

This revelation intensified scrutiny of the consulting industry’s ethical boundaries.

“Consulting companies… are held to a higher standard of professionalism and ethics than other lines of work,” Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg, the Gulf Cooperation Council assistant secretary-general for political affairs and negotiation, wrote in an April opinion piece for Arab News.

He warned that without corrective action, major firms risk alienating clients.

Displaced Palestinians carrying relief supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) return from aid distribution centers in Rafah to their tents in the southern Gaza Strip on May 29, 2025. (AFP)

ndeed, in recent years, top consulting firms like McKinsey, PwC, KPMG, and EY have faced growing scrutiny for putting profit over ethics, with scandals revealing conduct lapses worldwide.

McKinsey, for instance, faced heavy backlash for its role in the US opioid crisis. The firm was accused of helping Purdue Pharma and other manufacturers to aggressively market addictive painkillers, including OxyContin, The New York Times reported.

Aluwaisheg noted in his op-ed that some of these ethical lapses “are quite common throughout the consulting business.”

However, he added, “big firms are more likely to commit them,” citing sprawling operations that limit senior management oversight.

The industry’s core business model may be the issue: consulting firms adopted law firms’ high-fee model for expert advice — without their legal liability.

Despite this, demand for consulting services remains high. Aluwaisheg believes governments and businesses will continue to need outside expertise.

People walk by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) New York headquarters. (AFP)

Still, accountability concerns have prompted some governments to take action. In February, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund banned PwC from taking on new advisory and consulting contracts for one year.

Some media outlets reported that the decision was related to an ethical violation tied to an alleged recruitment of a senior-level employee from the client’s side. The suspension did not impact PwC’s auditing work.

These events highlight ongoing concerns over consulting firms’ roles in controversial actions. In April 2024, KPMG’s Dutch arm was fined $25 million after over 500 staff cheated on internal training exams, Reuters reported.

Yet the BCG case may represent a new low for the industry.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s model bypassed traditional organizations like the UN, restricted aid distribution to limited sites under Israeli oversight and relied on private security contractors. This move has had deadly consequences.

According to Gaza’s health authority, at least 740 Palestinians have been killed and almost 4,900 injured while attempting to reach aid centers, drawing condemnation from humanitarian organizations and UN officials.

Displaced Palestinians look around on alert in the wake of gunfire shots as they receive food packages from a US-backed foundation pledging to distribute humanitarian aid in western Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 27, 2025. (AFP)

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher called the initiative a “fig leaf for further violence and displacement” of Palestinians in the war-torn enclave.

In a July 10 letter to the FT editor, BCG’s CEO Christoph Schweizer pushed back against the allegations that his firm endorsed or profited from projects related to Gaza.

“None of that is true,” Schweizer wrote, adding that “a few people from BCG were involved in such work. They never should have been.”

Adding another layer to the controversy, FT reported on July 6 that staff from the Tony Blair Institute were also implicated in postwar planning that included scenarios for mass Palestinian displacement — despite being prominent advocates for peace in the Middle East.

Christoph Schweizer, CEO of Boston Consulting Group. (Supplied)

The plan, seen by the FT, imagined Gaza as a regional economic hub, complete with a “Trump Riviera” and “Elon Musk Smart Manufacturing Zone,” based on financial models developed by BCG.

While the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change denied authoring “The Great Trust” blueprint, it acknowledged two staff joined Gaza planning calls and chats. It also denied backing population relocation.

Arab News approached the TBI for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Nevertheless, its involvement has triggered additional concerns about the ethics of postwar reconstruction planning and the role of consulting firms in shaping policies with far-reaching humanitarian consequences.
 

 


Syrian, Israeli officials meet in Baku: Diplomatic source in Damascus

Syrian, Israeli officials meet in Baku: Diplomatic source in Damascus
Updated 12 July 2025
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Syrian, Israeli officials meet in Baku: Diplomatic source in Damascus

Syrian, Israeli officials meet in Baku: Diplomatic source in Damascus
  • Meeting marked major step for two countries which have been foes for decades

DAMASCUS: A Syrian and an Israeli official met face to face in Baku Saturday on the sidelines of a visit to Azerbaijan by President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, a diplomatic source in Damascus said.

The meeting marked a major step for the two countries which have been foes for decades, and comes after Israel initially cold-shouldered Al-Sharaa’s administration as jihadist because of his past links to Al-Qaeda.

“A meeting took place between a Syrian official and an Israeli official on the sidelines of Al-Sharaa’s visit to Baku,” the source said, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Israel is a major arms supplier to Azerbaijan and has a significant diplomatic presence in the Caucasus nation which neighbors its arch foe Iran.

Al-Sharaa himself did not take part in the meeting, which focused on “the recent Israeli military presence in Syria,” the source added.

After the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December, Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria to prevent key military assets falling into the hands of the Islamist-led interim administration headed by Al-Sharaa.

It also sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone that used to separate the opposing forces in the strategic Golan Heights, from which it has conducted forays deeper into southern Syria.

Al-Sharaa has said repeatedly that Syria does not seek conflict with its neighbors, and has instead asked the international community to put pressure on Israel to halt its attacks.

His government recently confirmed that it had held indirect contacts with Israel seeking a return to the 1974 disengagement agreement which created the buffer zone.

Late last month, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel was interested in striking a peace and normalization agreement with Syria.

A Syria government source quoted by state media responded that such talk was “premature.”

But during a visit to Lebanon this week, US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said: “The dialogue has started between Syria and Israel.”

After meeting Al-Sharaa in Riyadh in May, US President Donald Trump told reporters he had expressed hope that Syria would join other Arab states which normalized their relations with Israel.

“(Al-Sharaa) said yes. But they have a lot of work to do,” Trump said.

During his visit to Baku, Al-Sharaa held talks with his counterpart Ilham Aliyev, the two governments said.

Azerbaijan announced it would begin exporting gas to Syria via Turkiye, a key ally of both governments, a statement from the Azerbaijani presidency said.