US meddling in Gulf issues flayed by GCC

July 10, 2014

Riyadh, Jul 10: The US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor has been slammed by GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif Al-Zayani, for his interference in Bahrain’s internal affairs.

Al-Zayani voiced his “dismay” over the attitude of Tom Malinowski, who met with only one segment of political society during his official tour of duty to Bahrain this week.

“This kind of interference in the GCC’s domestic affairs is a violation of diplomatic norms and the principles of good neighborliness,” said Al-Zayani in a statement.

GCC officials said that safeguarding Bahrainis' rights is the responsibility of its leaders, who have promoted “security and stability” across Bahrain.

Referring to this political episode that has caught the attention of local and international media, Al-Zayani said: “The US diplomat’s holding meetings with representatives of a certain political segment, excluding other major components of Bahraini community … is deemed a form of interference in Bahrain’s internal affairs.”

Al-Zayani added: “This attitude will not help build confidence among Bahrainis on the US stance toward Bahrain’s crisis nor will it support its positive reform process.”

The US official was ordered to leave Bahrain on Monday after meeting with members of the leading Shiite opposition group.

Malinowski, who arrived in Bahrain on Sunday for a three-day trip, did not meet political and social workers currently supporting the Bahraini leadership.

US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that the Bahraini government “is well aware that US government officials routinely meet with officially recognized political societies.”

Psaki said “Malinowski is on a visit to reaffirm and strengthen our bilateral ties and to support King Hamad’s reforms and reconciliation efforts at an important time, particularly given events elsewhere in the region.”

The visit of the US official was coordinated far in advance and warmly welcomed and encouraged by the government of Bahrain, said Psaki.

Despite the diplomatic tiff, Bahrain provided assurances that ties with the US remain sound. “The government of Bahrain asserts that this should not in any way affect the two countries’ relationship of mutual interest,” according to a statement.

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Israel orders 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate eastern Rafah ahead of ground invasion

News Network

May 6,2024

The Israeli regime is forcibly evacuating Palestinians from the eastern part of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip amid the prospect of its widely-discouraged ground invasion.

“The estimate is around 100,000 people,” an Israeli military spokesman told journalists on Monday when asked how many people were being evacuated.

International organizations, including the United Nations, have repeatedly warned the regime against invading the city, citing its hosting around 1.5 million Palestinian refugees.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said a ground assault on Rafah would “put the final nail in the coffin” for humanitarian aid operations in the Gaza Strip.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also said, “Any ground operation would mean more suffering and death,” with an official saying “It could be a slaughter of civilians.”

Multiple aid agencies, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, have likewise warned against a Rafah offensive.

The NRC said such an invasion “would profoundly exacerbate the already catastrophic levels of need and the humanitarian emergency for millions of civilians with nowhere left to go.”

The official alleged Hamas had killed three Israeli forces on Sunday, attacking them from Rafah.

The evacuation order came a sat least 22 people lost their lives in the regime’s airstrikes killed in Rafah earlier on Monday.

Rafah’s evacuation “is part of our plans to dismantle Hamas,” the Israeli spokesman added, referring to the Palestinian resistance movement that has been defending Gaza in the face of the war.

The Palestinians have fled there from the ravages of a war that the regime began waging against Gaza on October 7, following a retaliatory operation by the coastal sliver’s resistance groups.

At least 34,683 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and 78,018 others injured so far during the brutal military onslaught.

On Friday, Hossam Badran, a member of Hamas’ Political Bureau, said Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on carrying out a ground invasion of Rafah was a key stumbling block in negotiations aimed at a truce agreement.

The Israeli premier has said the regime would go ahead with invading the city “with or without” a truce.

Hamas has, however, asserted that the regime has failed to defeat the resistance during the war.

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