MANAMA, Nov. 17 (Reuters) – The crown prince of the Gulf Arab state of Bahrain called on Friday for a “hostage deal” between Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel to achieve an end to hostilities, saying it would lead to an end to the Palestinian conflict. He said it could lead to an end. War between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa also said that security cannot be achieved without a two-state solution, calling the United States “indispensable” to its realization.
“Now is the time to speak up,” he said, calling on Hamas to release the Israeli women and children held hostage in Gaza and on Israel saying he is a non-combatant. called for the release of Palestinian women and children from prison.
“The intention is so that people can look at themselves and bury their dead, so that people can finally begin to grieve, and perhaps people can begin to ask themselves about the intelligence failures that caused this crisis in the first place. “It’s a break,” he said.
Fellow Gulf Arab state Qatar has led mediation efforts between Islamic extremists and Israeli authorities to free more than 240 hostages.
Sunni-ruled Bahrain established relations with Israel in 2020 under the US-brokered Abraham Accords over shared concerns about Shiite-majority Iran, a regional power. Bahrain is a key security partner of the United States and is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.
Bahrain’s parliament announced this month that Israel’s ambassador had left the country and Bahrain’s own special envoy had also left Israel amid turmoil in the Arab world over Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, but it remains unclear whether Israeli diplomats had been expelled. It’s unknown.
Prince Salman described the situation in Gaza as “untenable” and condemned the October 7 Hamas attack and the Israeli “air operation” launched in response.
He insisted that “now and forever” are red lines that cannot be crossed in the conflict, including the forced displacement of Palestinians, Israeli reoccupation of Gaza, and military threats from Gaza to Israel.
Speaking at the IISS Manama Dialogue, Crown Prince Salman also called for Palestinian elections that would lead to a “just and lasting peace” once the war ends, describing it as the establishment of a Palestinian state, which he said would also lead to security. . and the stability of Israel.
“This conflict is an ongoing open wound in the Middle East for the past 80 years,” he said.
More than 12,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on the coast, according to Gaza health officials. Israeli authorities announced on October 7 that 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage.
Prince Salman said a hostage exchange would be the only way to achieve the necessary cessation of violence so that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip could be provided with humanitarian aid, including medicines, fuel to run medical machines, and food. He said that.
Reporting in Manama by Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Louise Heavens and Kirsten Donovan
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