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Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has called the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, a “horrible act of terrorism” that brought Palestinians nothing but destruction, while also warning that Israel’s government is “expansionist.”
“What did Palestine or the Palestinians gain from October 7? Nothing. Only destruction,” Sawiris, chairman of Orascom Investment Holding, said in an interview with France 24 broadcast three years after the attack.
The attack killed about 1,200 people in Israel, and the war Israel launched in response has killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza and left much of the territory in ruins.
Sawiris did not limit his criticism to Hamas. He said he feared “a government in Israel that is expansionist” and described Israeli settlers as “crazy.”
Doubling down on the UAE
The telecommunications tycoon also spoke about the economic damage from the war with Iran, which he said is already “happening.” He defended his decision to double his investment in the United Arab Emirates despite the conflict in the region and delivered a message to Tehran. “You’re not going to scare us,” he said.
Meeting Syria’s new president
Sawiris also discussed his recent meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former jihadist commander who took power after the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Sawiris’s telecommunications assets in Syria were seized under Assad’s government, but he told France 24 he is not seeking compensation.
Asked what it meant for him, a Christian from a Coptic Orthodox family, to meet a former jihadist, Sawiris said: “It shows you that even the extremes can meet.”
He praised al-Sharaa, who has been courting foreign investors and governments as he tries to rebuild a country devastated by more than a decade of civil war.
An outspoken billionaire
Sawiris, the eldest son of Orascom founder Onsi Sawiris, built his fortune in telecommunications, creating Orascom Telecom and expanding it across Africa, the Middle East and Asia before selling much of the business. He has since invested in gold mining, media and real estate. His younger brothers, Nassef and Samih, are also billionaires.
He is among the most outspoken businessmen in the Arab world. He frequently comments on politics on social media and in interviews, and founded the Free Egyptians Party after the 2011 revolution.
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