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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Israeli forces invade southwestern Syria, set up checkpoint in Quneitra

News Network

November 24,2025

Israeli forces have pushed over the Syrian frontier, erecting a checkpoint and stopping vehicles in the southwestern city of Quneitra, in yet another breach of the Arab country’s sovereignty.

The violation took place on Sunday, when the troops made their way across the border, setting up the outpost near the Ain al-Bayda junction in northern Quneitra, Syrian outlets reported.

According to the al-Ikhbariya paper, an Israeli detachment positioned itself at the junction, halting cars and conducting searches.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that three Israeli military vehicles then moved further into the northern countryside, deploying between the town of Jubata al-Khashab and the villages of Ofaniya and Ain al-Bayda. The agency added that a separate Israeli unit mounted a new incursion in the central region, approaching the villages of Umm Batina and al-Ajraf.

Residents said such activities have surged in recent months, pointing to Israeli advances onto farmland, leveling of extensive forested areas, arrests, and spread of mobile checkpoints.

The Israeli regime began markedly increasing its military aggression against Syria last year.

The escalation coincided with increasingly ferocious onslaughts throughout the country by the so-called Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Takfiri terrorist group, which the government of President Bashar al-Assad had confined to northwestern Syria. The HTS, however, managed to overthrow the government as the Israeli attacks would pummel the country’s civilian and defensive infrastructure.

Various reports have shown that, during the escalation, the regime conducted more than 1,000 airstrikes on the Syrian territory and over 400 ground raids into the south.

Following the collapse of the Assad government, Tel Aviv also widened its grip over the occupied Golan Heights by taking control of a demilitarized buffer zone, in defiance of a 1974 Disengagement Agreement. Earlier this month, senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visited the buffer zone, prompting expressions of alarm on the part of the United Nations.

The United States, the regime’s biggest ally, has, meanwhile, been fraternizing the HTS head Abu Mohammed al-Jolani amid the widely reported prospect of rapprochement with Tel Aviv.

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