Saudi King orders opening of Salwa border crossing for Qatari Haj pilgrims

Agencies
August 17, 2017

Jeddah, Aug 17: King Salman has approved a plan to open the Salwa border crossing to Qataris performing Hajj this year, the Saudi Press Agency said late Wednesday.

The King has also ordered that a private aircraft belonging to the Saudi Arabian Airlines be dispatched to Doha Airport to fly all Qatari pilgrims to Jeddah.

SPA said the plan was submitted to the King by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who earlier met with Qatari Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Jassem Al Thani at the Peace Palace in Jeddah.

“During the meeting, Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali stressed that the relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Qatar are brotherly relations rooted in history. The sheikh extended his mediation to open the Salwa border crossing for the entry of Qatari pilgrims to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's territories,” the SPA said.

Also allowed to pass through the border crossing are all Qatari nationals who wish to enter Saudi Arabia for Hajj without electronic permits.

The king also directed that all Qatari pilgrims be transported from King Fahad International Airport in Dammam and Al-Ahsa International Airport as his guests. All expenses are to be paid for by the King, under the Program of the Guests of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for Hajj and Umrah.

The Salwa crossing, Qatar’s only land border outlet, was closed in June when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt declared a boycott of Qatar.

The four Arab states, collectively called the Anti-Terror Quartet (ATQ), have accused Doha of hosting or supporting terrorist organizations and individuals, as well as maintaining close ties with Iran, which the ATQ have accused of trying to destabilize the region by fomenting sectarian strife.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s meeting with Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali’s was the first with a Qatari leader since the dispute came to a head.

In a statement carried by SPA, the Crown Prince thanked Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali “for his brotherly feelings” as he stressed “the depth of historical relations” between Saudis and Qataris

Saudi Arabia and Qatar are both members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), along with Bahrain, the UAE, Kuwait and Oman.

Saudi officials had earlier said Qatari pilgrims are welcome to come to the Kingdom to perform Hajj in Makkah despite the ongoing dispute.

The hajj, a pillar of Islam that capable Muslims must perform at least once in a lifetime, is to take place this year at the end of August.
 

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News Network
March 14,2024

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The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says at least five people, including a staff member, were killed and 22 others wounded after Israeli forces targeted a food distribution centre in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini in a statement on Wednesday said that the strike hit one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centers in the eastern part of Rafah.

“Today’s attack on one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centers in the Gaza Strip comes as food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread and, in some areas, turning into famine,” Lazzarini said.

“Every day, we share the coordinates of all our facilities across the Gaza Strip with parties to the conflict," he continued.

He said the attack was carried out even though "the Israeli Army received the coordinates including of this facility yesterday."

Lazzarini further urged the protection of the UN, its staff, and its premises and called for an independent investigation.

Israel acknowledged an airstrike on a food aid distribution center in southern Gaza, which it claimed targeted and killed a high-ranking member of Hamas. 

Meanwhile, the statement by the UNRWA head added that since October 7, at least 165 team members have been killed while in the line of duty and more than 400 people sheltering in UN buildings also lost their lives due to Israel's attacks.

More than 150 of the agency’s facilities, including schools and shelters, have been hit in the war, with some destroyed, and UNRWA staff have reportedly been mistreated and humiliated while in Israeli detention centers, according to the UNRWA.

Six aid seekers killed in Israeli attack

Separately, the health ministry in the Gaza Strip said six people were killed in the latest attack on Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid at the Kuwait Roundabout in Gaza City.

The Wafa news agency said some 83 people who were wounded in the attack have been transferred to the al-Shifa Medical Complex in the city.

Over the past weeks, Israeli forces have increased their offensives on the Kuwait Roundabout, an area where large groups gather to wait for aid deliveries.

Israeli forces killed 11 people waiting for food aid at the roundabout on Monday night.

The Israeli military has restricted the delivery of humanitarian supplies to northern Gaza for weeks, and thousands of children are going without sufficient food and medication.

The prevention of aid convoys comes as humanitarian officials have already issued a dire warning, stating that unless a ceasefire is implemented and aid is significantly increased, the toll of malnutrition and disease is expected to rise, leading to an alarming loss of lives.

So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 31,272 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 73,024 others.

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News Network
March 8,2024

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As the world marks International Women's Day, the government media office in Gaza has mourned 8,900 Palestinian women killed by Israel since October amid the silence of the international community.

In a statement issued on Friday, the media office said Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which began in October, has so far killed 8,900 Palestinian women and injured more than 23,000 others, with 2,100 still missing.

“On March 8, the world celebrates International Women's Day, honoring women for their achievements and struggle. However, Palestinian women continue to pay a heavy price for freedom and dignity.”

The statement said Israel kills Palestinian women “in cold blood”, while “the world stands idly by, witnessing this grave violation against Palestinian women without lifting a finger.”

The office noted that Israel’s war has also left over half a million Palestinian women displaced and living under “extreme difficulties”, with no access to basic necessities such as food and medicine.

According to the statement, the war has also “made 60,000 pregnant women live a harsh and extremely difficult life, lacking the most basic healthcare and medical requirements”. The office said hundreds of them “have lost their sons, newborns, or unborn children due to bombing, fear, and ‘Israeli’ killing.”

The statement also referred to the plight of female Palestinian detainees, saying dozens are “facing physical and psychological torture, poor treatment, and humiliation.”

The media office hailed the “steadfastness” of Palestinian women, stressing that they are “in dire need to defend their rights and life requirements rather than being killed, shot at, detained, and forced into displacement and migration, as the occupation army has been doing for over five continuous months.”

The office also held the US, the international community, and all relevant international organizations “fully responsible” for the genocide in Gaza and the harsh conditions forced upon Palestinian women there, slamming those who take part in the war and those who remain silent on the Israeli crimes.

The statement also urged “all the countries of the free world and the international community” to work towards ending the ‘Israeli’ occupation, and to take action to save Palestinian women from the ongoing Israeli crimes, “including killing, shooting, arresting, humiliating, torturing, and forcing them to leave their homes, cities, and residential areas.”

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

The Tel Aviv regime has also imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians and injured over 72,000 others.

Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble in Gaza.

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News Network
March 12,2024

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Congratulating the Muslim world on the occasion of Ramadan, Iran calls on Muslim countries to unite against the Israeli regime's ongoing genocidal war against the Gaza Strip on the occasion of the arrival of the holy fasting month.

"I cordially congratulate the honorable Iranian nation, the entire Muslims of the world, and my counterparts in Muslim countries on the occasion of the emergence of the blessed month of Ramadan," Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.

"Gaza's developments showed that, as the common ideal of all Muslims, the issue of Palestine rests at the top of the Muslim world's [list of] priorities," he added.

The holy month, he added, can serve as a "premium opportunity" for Muslim countries "to effectively take the initiative, under the aegis of all-out unity and convergence, towards stopping the apartheid Zionist regime's genocide and war crimes in Gaza."

Amir-Abdollahian, meanwhile, expressed confidence that "the resistance and the Palestinian people are the main victors of this arena."

Israel launched the war on the Gaza Strip on October 7 after Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory operation into the occupied territories.

Concomitantly with the war, the regime has been enforcing a near-total siege on Gaza, which has reduced the flow of foodstuffs, medicine, electricity, and water into the Palestinian territory into a trickle. Earlier this month, the United Nations warned that in the absence of any changes in the regime’s ongoing genocidal war, the coastal sliver was on course to experience all-out famine.

So far during the military onslaught, the regime has killed more than 31,112 Gazans, most of them women, children, and adolescents.

Also on Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the Israeli regime to honor the spirit of the holy month by "silencing the guns."

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