The US giant food chain McDonald’s has signed a deal to purchase all 225 of the restaurants that comprise its Israel franchise.
The company reported its first revenue miss in nearly four years in February, hit by months of dramatically weak sales following pro-Palestinian boycott action due to the Israeli regime’s genocidal war on Gaza.
The American fast-food chain announced on Thursday that it is taking control of the restaurant outlets in Israel run for decades by local licensee Alonyal Ltd., which is owned by Israeli businessman Omri Padan.
“An agreement to sell Alonyal to McDonald’s Corporation has been signed,” McDonald’s announced in its statement. “Upon completion of the transaction, McDonald’s Corporation will own Alonyal Limited’s restaurants and operations, and employees will be retained on equivalent terms.”
Pro-Palestinians around the world, particularly in Muslim countries, have boycotted McDonald’s for its support for the occupying regime’s genocide of the people of Gaza since October.
McDonald’s did not disclose the value of the deal. The company widely missed Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter sales in the segment in February over their pro-Israel stance in the Gaza war.
The US fast food chain’s Israel franchise has offered free food and drinks to Israeli occupation forces stationed in Gaza, and provided discounts to Israeli regime forces since Oct. 7, after Zionist troops launched the war on Gaza, killing at least 33,091 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children.
Tel Aviv has also blocked water, food, and electricity to Gaza, plunging the coastal strip into a humanitarian crisis, triggering what the United Nations warns is an impending famine for more than half a million people.
