Ibrahim El Argani’s name rarely appears without controversy, particularly when it comes to rebuilding Gaza. His business interests were associated with control of the Rafah crossing during 15 months of war that devastated the territory. Now his group is seeking a leading role in reconstruction, whose first phase his son estimates will cost around $50 billion.
On February 17, El Argani Group announced a strategic alliance with China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), one of China’s largest construction companies. The group said the partnership would bring international expertise and technology to Egypt, modernise property development and help local companies adopt international practices in line with Egypt’s Vision 2030.
Group chief executive Essam El Argani said the company hoped to participate in rebuilding Gaza. He put the cost of the first phase at about $50 billion, telling a February press conference that the group was awaiting an official announcement allowing Egyptian companies to enter Gaza and support Palestinians there.
Founded by Sinai businessman Ibrahim El Argani, the group has expanded rapidly from a local enterprise into a business network spanning several major sectors. Its first company was established in 2010. Its interests now include imports and exports, logistics, property development, construction, transport, agricultural development and ready-mix concrete.
With approximately 16 subsidiaries in Egypt, its rapid rise and growing influence have prompted questions about its revenues and profits, particularly given its connections to Egyptian state bodies. In recent years it has also expanded abroad, pursuing projects in Libya, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and China. Rebuilding Gaza could become one of its largest overseas ventures.
Control of the Rafah crossing
El Argani’s role in Gaza has drawn particular scrutiny over the operation of the Rafah crossing during the war. Reports accused companies associated with him of charging substantial fees to move people and goods across the border. Hala, a company owned by El Argani, reportedly charged Palestinians as much as $5,000 per person to leave Gaza; reports also cited charges of $10,000 for a goods truck.
In June 2024, El Argani acknowledged that Hala charged Palestinians wishing to leave Gaza, describing it as a tourism company “like any company at the airport.” He said it had been established in 2017 to serve Palestinian travellers crossing into Egypt through Rafah. He maintained that the fee was $2,500 for adults and that children were not charged.
An analysis published by Middle East Eye in early May 2024 estimated that Hala had collected around $118 million in fees between February and April 2024 from Palestinians seeking to escape Israel’s war on Gaza.
Figures based on passenger lists put the company’s estimated receipts at at least $21 million in February, $38.5 million in March and $58 million in April. These are estimates of revenue collected, rather than established net profits after costs.
The original reporting also cited an international charity’s account that, in January 2024, it had been required to pay $5,000 for every aid truck entering Gaza through Rafah. The charity attributed the charges to Abnaa Sinai and described them as a “disguised bribe.”
As reconstruction discussions gathered momentum, El Argani’s businesses returned to the spotlight over contracts to supply equipment and prefabricated housing units, amid reports alleging that prices charged were far above their actual value.
Through Abnaa Sinai, the group had already participated in work in Gaza following the 2021 war, as well as in earlier projects in 2014. It has nevertheless faced accusations of exploiting the crisis for financial gain at Palestinians’ expense.
Reports published in February 2025 alleged that Abnaa Sinai restricted imports of prefabricated units from outside Egypt, forcing supply through Egyptian companies. They said the price of a single unit had risen from $2,000 to $10,500, more than five times the earlier price.
Estimates of Gaza’s reconstruction needs vary. The United Nations estimated that the territory contained more than 51 million tonnes of rubble, approximately 14 times the debris left by previous wars before October 2023. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said in March that reconstruction could cost as much as $90 billion. The Egyptian reconstruction plan adopted by the Arab summit in Cairo envisaged about $53 billion over five years.
Earlier estimates reported in April 2024 suggested that clearing rubble could take 14 years and cost approximately $1.2 billion. Those projections predated the later estimate of more than 51 million tonnes and should be read in that context. More than 1.8 million Palestinians faced an acute housing crisis, while rebuilding destroyed homes was projected to take until at least 2040.
Seeking a share of Libya’s reconstruction
Alongside its ambitions in Gaza, El Argani Group is working with Chinese investors to expand its role in rebuilding Libya, with proposed investments of about $2 billion. Essam El Argani said on February 17 that 88 Egyptian construction companies were involved in reconstruction projects in Libya and that the number could increase to 150.
Ibrahim El Argani appeared in western Libya on May 17, 2023, accompanying an Egyptian intelligence delegation that met Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, prime minister of the Government of National Unity. Discussions covered Egyptian projects under way in Libya, reflecting coordination at several levels between Cairo and Tripoli.
His business activity also extended to eastern Libya. He met Belqasim Haftar, son of military commander Khalifa Haftar, and signed contracts on July 7, 2024, for six projects, including new bridges in Derna and two in Ajdabiya. The projects formed part of efforts to restore infrastructure badly damaged by Storm Daniel in September 2023.
El Argani’s reconstruction activity in Libya had become prominent in early 2024, when he appeared in Derna alongside former Egyptian transport minister Hani Dahi to announce bridge-building contracts involving the UAE company Global Contracting. His company Neom for Real Estate Development also secured contracts for projects commissioned by Libya’s Derna Reconstruction Fund in early 2024. These arrangements illustrate the growth of his reconstruction interests through Egyptian, regional and international partnerships.
Why is El Argani Group taking a leading role?
Malek Adly, head of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights, tells Zawia3 that the situation is complex. Areas affected by war and conflict, he says, often require companies experienced in operating under difficult conditions and capable of bearing security and logistical risks. This could help explain the group’s positioning.
“At the same time, this rapid rise and growing influence cannot be separated from the political landscape,” he says. “There is a clear pattern in Egypt of giving particular companies the opportunity to carry out major projects. We saw this previously with Arab Contractors, then Orascom, and now El Argani.”
“Rebuilding Gaza is not simply a construction project. It is an enormous undertaking that could cost more than $50 billion. Can a single company bear that financial and administrative burden?” — Malek Adly
Even Egypt’s wealthiest companies could not shoulder such a sum alone, Adly argues. He expects reconstruction to involve a consortium rather than only El Argani Group.
The scale of the projected cost also raises questions about funding. Even the region’s richest businesspeople do not have that amount of immediately available cash, he says. The figures may be estimates, but a first-phase cost of $50 billion would logically require financing based on joint investments or international support.
Adly also stresses the political dimension. Egypt’s interest in rebuilding Gaza is humanitarian, but also relates to regional stability and opposition to displacement plans that could affect national security, particularly in Sinai. Placing a local business entity at the centre of reconstruction could be part of a strategy to retain control over the process and limit outside interference.
“Questions nevertheless remain about transparency, how opportunities will be distributed among other companies, and the state’s actual role in overseeing implementation,” he says, emphasising the need to fulfil both development and humanitarian objectives.
Why should Egypt lead reconstruction?
Talat Khalil, coordinator of the Civil Democratic Movement and a member of the Conservative Party’s presidential council, tells Zawia3 that the more fundamental question is why Gaza’s reconstruction is being assigned to Egypt. Answering it, he says, requires understanding conditions in the territory.
“We are talking about an area of continuing military operations, full of mines and remnants of war,” he says. In his assessment, these dangers would deter international construction companies regardless of the financial offers available. Insurance premiums for projects in unstable security environments could make reconstruction prohibitively expensive.
“No Western or European company will risk entering Gaza knowing it could suffer enormous human and material losses,” Khalil argues. He sees those risks as a major obstacle to reconstruction under the prevailing conditions.
In his view, this helps explain why Egypt and China are emerging as principal participants. He argues that they approach the issue of potential human losses differently from Western companies. The partnership between El Argani Group and a Chinese company that has undertaken major projects in Egypt’s New Administrative Capital, announced in the presence of the Egyptian housing minister, therefore carries wider significance.
Khalil maintains that major American and European companies would find the insurance costs alone sufficient to undermine a project’s commercial viability in an active war zone. These are his assessments of the risks and incentives facing potential contractors.
“We cannot continue in a cycle of destruction and reconstruction without real guarantees that the same thing will not happen again. What guarantees that what is rebuilt will not be destroyed months or years later?” — Talat Khalil
For Khalil, reconstruction must be linked to a clear political framework rather than treated solely as a commercial or economic operation. The essential guarantee, he says, is a just and lasting political settlement that establishes an independent Palestinian state in accordance with United Nations resolutions and prevents renewed displacement, killing and destruction.
“We cannot accept a situation in which Israel, America and Europe continue supporting military operations that destroy the entire territory, followed by talk of reconstruction without political guarantees,” he says. There must be a clear international commitment against renewed destruction; otherwise, reconstruction risks becoming only a temporary interval before another round of bombardment.
“This is not simply a humanitarian crisis. It is first and foremost a political issue,” Khalil adds. Without a clear political framework before rebuilding starts, he warns, the same catastrophe could recur within a few years.
Egypt has substantial leverage, he argues, and should use it to ensure that reconstruction follows a clear political vision. The central issue is not whether an Egyptian, Chinese or foreign company undertakes the work. It concerns Palestinians’ future and the need for lasting solutions that prevent further destruction.
“This is not just about constructing new buildings. It is a question of existence and rights that must be resolved politically before any construction work is discussed,” he says. Without that, the billions spent on rebuilding could ultimately be wasted.
From controversy over Rafah crossing fees to ambitions for rebuilding Gaza, Ibrahim El Argani and his business group remain significant actors in the region’s reconstruction landscape. As their interests expand from Libya to China, a central question persists: does this influence represent a strategic partnership for Egypt, or an investment in Palestinian suffering for enormous financial gain? Greater transparency over how projects are awarded and carried out is essential to prevent crises from becoming opportunities for profiteering.
