Egypt’s struggling economy faces new risks as the war in the neighbouring Gaza Strip threatens to disrupt tourism bookings and natural gas imports, Reuters reports.

Oil-rich Gulf countries, which repeatedly propped up Egypt’s finances with deposits over the past decade, had recently shifted to seeking profitable investments instead. Now they may step up assistance once more, analysts and bankers say.

The Gaza conflict on the border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula comes after the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic exposed long-standing frailties in the Egyptian economy.

Egypt had relied heavily on inflows of short-term portfolio investment, tourism revenues, and remittances to partially cover a chronic trade deficit, leaving it vulnerable to shocks.

“Foreign sentiment on Egypt is so weak, and now with this coming along it’s the last thing that Egypt needed. A third crisis,” said Monica Malik, an economist with Abu-Dhabi-based ADCB.