King starts Gulf tour with UAE visit

December 4, 2016

Riyadh, Dec 4: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman arrived in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, kick-starting his tour of four Gulf states.

During this visit, King Salman will hold wide-ranging talks with high-ranking officials from the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.

“King Salman will meet with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders and high-ranking Gulf officials to review relations and ways of enhancing them in all fields, and he will also discuss regional and international issues of common interest,” said a statement released by the Royal Court on Saturday.

The statement confirmed that the king would attend the 37th GCC summit, to be held in Bahrain later this week.

The statement added that “based on the king’s keenness to communicate with GCC leaders in serving the people and enhancing brotherly bonds among Saudi Arabia and other GCC states, the Saudi monarch started the GCC tour.”

The king’s visit has added significance as it comes a couple of days before the GCC summit in Bahrain.

The king’s visit also coincides with the visits to the UAE of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, French President Francois Hollande, Kurdish President Masoud Barzani and Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic.

On arrival in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, King Salman was received at the airport by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Abu Dhabi crown prince and deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and several Cabinet members.

An official reception was held for King Salman at the airport, where the Saudi national anthem was played, accompanied by a 21-gun salute.

The king then shook hands with high-ranking UAE officials, including rulers and ministers, while Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed welcomed Saudi officials accompanying the king.

Welcoming the visit of King Salman to the Gulf states, Ibrahim Al-Qayid, founding member of the Riyadh-based National Society for Human Rights, said: “Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as the Kingdom and the GCC, have a strong bilateral relationship, one which has grown even closer these days.”

Al-Qayid added: “King Salman’s visit will be an opportunity to hear and exchange important perspectives on Middle East issues, including Syria, Yemen, the Middle East peace process, Iraq, Daesh, Iran, and above all, terrorism.”

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are close allies, signing a protocol earlier this year to establish a coordination council.

The council is led by Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, who is the UAE deputy prime minister and minister of presidential affairs.

The decision to create the council came after similar agreements between Saudi Arabia and other countries such as Jordan and Turkey.

During this trip, the king is accompanied by several members of the royal family, ministers and top officials.

Prominent among them are Prince Khaled bin Fahd bin Khaled bin Mohammed, Prince Mansour bin Saud bin Abdul Aziz, Economy and Planning Minister Adel Fakeih, Commerce and Investment Minister Majid Al-Qassabi, Culture and Information Minister Adel Al-Toraifi and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nizar bin Obaid Madani.

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‘Israeli aggression has killed 70 percent of Zionist captives in Gaza’

News Network

May 17,2024

Hamas says the Israeli regime’s bombing of the Gaza Strip, which is enduring a genocidal Israeli war, has killed 70 percent of the Zionist captives, who have been held by the Palestinian resistance movement since an October operation.

Khalil al-Hayya, deputy chief of Hamas’ Political Bureau, announced the information in an interview with Lebanon’s al-Manar television network on Thursday.

“The Zionist enemy wants to recover the remaining captives by force, killing them by bombing,” he said.

Around 250 people were taken captive on October 7 last year during Al-Aqsa Storm, a retaliatory operation by Gaza’s resistance groups.

At least 35,272 Palestinians have died in an Israeli war of genocide that began following the operation.

Hamas released 105 of the captives during a week-long truce in late November.

Hamas recently agreed to another truce proposal enabling cessation of the Israeli aggression and release of the rest of the captives. The Israeli regime, however, rejected the proposal.

The Hamas’ official said, “The latest proposal presented to us comes very close to our demands, but the enemy has not respected the proposal or the mediators.”

Al-Hayya reiterated the movement’s demands, saying any potential truce agreement had to mandate a complete and comprehensive cessation of the Israeli aggression, withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza, and then a captive exchange deal.

‘Victory is our ally’

The Hamas’ official pointed to the Israeli regime’s failure to realize its war goals, including defeating the resistance.

“After eight months of aggression, the enemy has failed to eradicate the resistance in Gaza despite all the actions of the occupation,” he said.

“The resistance has rebuilt itself and can adapt its capabilities to face the occupation,” the official said, asserting, “The resistance is capable of enduring for many months and will continue to defend its people as long as the battle is ongoing.”

“The resistance has the ability to continue because it is right, and victory is our ally, while the enemy will face defeat.”

Thanking regional resistance

Elsewhere in his remarks, al-Hayya expressed gratitude towards the regional resistance groups for the pro-Palestinian operations that they have been carrying out against Israeli targets and those associated with the occupying regime.

“The fronts in Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq support Gaza and link the cessation of [their] operations to the end of aggression on Gaza,” he said.

“When we meet with the resistance forces in the region, we affirm that the battle is one.”

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