Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1513566
9 EDITORIAL BusinessToday is published every Thursday. The newspaper is a MediaToday publication and is distributed to all leading stationers, business and financial institutions and banks. MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN EDITOR: PAUL COCKS BusinessToday, MediaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN9016, Malta Newsroom email: bt@mediatoday.com.mt Advertising: afarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt Telephone: 00356 21 382741 21.12.2023 T he incessant assault on Gaza by Israel's military risks dest- abilising the region, given the inexcusable number of civilian deaths among Palestinians in the enclave. Israel may have had the high mor- al ground when it launched retali- atory action against Hamas in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks on its territory. But now, Israel has overreached. There is no justification for the killing of thousands of Palestinian civilians, and the siege on Gaza that is leaving hundreds of thousands more, hungry, thirsty, sick and un- able to access basic sanitary and health services. Israel risks pushing its allies and new friends it had gained in the re- gion to the brink of rejection with its senseless action that continues to claim innocent lives. Israel is playing into the hands of Hamas with its scorched earth policy. It is evident that part of the militant group's strategy when attacking Is- rael was to disrupt the rapproche- ment between Israel and Arab countries, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia. These relationships are now on hold. And if the instability caused by the Gaza conflict was not enough, we now have the Houthi rebels in Yem- en waging a war of harassment on merchant ships passing through the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea. The Houthis claim they are target- ing ships with some form of con- nection with Israel as a show of sup- port for Hamas. The reality is that the tensions in the Red Sea are not helping the Palestinians' cause and only serve to distract the world's at- tention from what is happening in the Gaza Strip. But the targeting of merchant ships in the Red Sea with missiles, drones and militiamen on speedboats has caused jitters in global trade and some of the large shipping compa- nies have ordered vessels to reroute. This means lengthier journeys around the southern tip of Africa, higher fuel costs and heftier insur- ance premiums. The higher costs if the situation persists will eventually work their way into consumer and producer prices, contributing to a fresh bout of inflation. Although the disruption so far has not upended world trade, the price of crude oil has edged upwards. The risk that world trade takes a direct hit as a result of the Houthis' ac- tions is real. About 12% of world shipping traffic passes up the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal, making it an important waterway that con- nects the Mediterranean Sea with the Indian Ocean. The world already had a taste of the disruption an incident in the area can cause when in March 2021, the Suez Canal was blocked for six days by the Ever Given, a contain- er ship that had run aground in the canal. The last thing the world needs right now is trouble on one of the key global trade routes, which is why the threat posed by the Hou- this cannot be ignored. The rebel group's actions are a direct threat to international commerce and mar- itime security and have to be ad- dressed forcefully. The US is leading an internation- al naval military mission in the Red Sea to protect ships passing through the area from Houthi attacks. One can only hope that the pres- ence of warships from different na- tions in the region may deter more attacks. The security operation is likely to heighten tensions in the re- gion but it is important that the Red Sea trade route remains functional. Houthi headache must be tackled forcefully n August 2023, the seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade decreased by 1.2% in the euro area and by 0.9% in the EU, compared with July 2023, according to estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In July 2023, the retail trade volume decreased by 0.1% both in the euro area and in the EU. In August 2023 compared with August 2022, the calendar adjusted retail sales index decreased by 2.1% in the euro area and by 2.0% in the EU. In the euro area in August 2023, compared with July 2023, the volume of retail trade decreased by 3.0% for automotive fuels, by 1.2% for food, drinks and tobacco and by 0.9% for non-food products. In the EU, the volume of retail trade decreased by 2.4% for automotive fuels, by 0.9% for food, drinks and tobacco and by 0.6% for non-food products. Retail Price Volume DID U KNOW?