Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he was not seeking an “escalation” in the Gaza Strip after his government moved to reduce electricity supplies to the Hamas-run enclave. Israel’s security cabinet decided on Sunday to reduce the daily amount of electricity supplied to Gaza by between 45 and 60 minutes, Israeli media reported. Gazans … Read more
Hamas this week marks 10 years since taking power in Gaza with the Palestinian enclave at risk of conflict and facing electricity blackouts, poverty and Israel’s blockade, analysts and officials say. The situation is likely to be further complicated by the Saudi-led diplomatic row with Qatar, which has been a major donor to the Gaza … Read more
Israel will reduce electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip after funding cuts by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, an Israeli minister said Monday, worsening an already severe shortage in the Hamas-run enclave. The move has raised fears of a new upsurge in violence, with Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza having fought three wars since 2008. … Read more
Israel will reduce electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip after funding cuts by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, a minister said Monday, worsening an already severe shortage in the Hamas-run enclave. The security cabinet decided Sunday to reduce the daily amount supplied to Gaza by around 45 minutes, Israeli media reported. Gazans currently receive only three … Read more
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Sunday for the United Nations to shut down its Palestinian refugee aid agency, saying it was responsible for incitement against the Jewish state. Netanyahu said he raised the issue during the visit in recent days of Washington’s UN envoy Nicky Haley, who has accused the United Nations of bias … Read more
Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas has denied that it or any other militant group built a tunnel under two UN schools in Gaza after its discovery drew a strong UN protest. Over the years, Gaza’s Hamas rulers have built a labyrinth of tunnels, some passing under the border into Israel which they used to launch attacks … Read more
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Friday said it has protested to the Islamist movement Hamas after finding a tunnel under two of its schools in the Gaza Strip. Over the years, Gaza’s Hamas rulers have built a labyrinth of tunnels, including ones that cross under the border with Israel, and have used them … Read more
The diplomatic crisis surrounding the Gulf escalated further Friday after Saudi Arabia and its allies placed a number of Qataris and Doha-based organisations on a “terror list”. As many as 18 individuals were named, including members of Qatar’s royal family and a former minister. Also named were Doha-based Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi and … Read more
Qatar-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera said Thursday that it was under a widescale cyber attack which had targeted “all systems”, according to a statement released on social media by the broadcaster. “Al Jazeera Media Network under cyber attack on all systems, websites & social media platforms,” it said on Twitter. The attack was also confirmed by a … Read more
Turkey is keen to support its close ally Qatar in a diplomatic crisis with Doha’s Gulf neighbours, but has found itself with little room to manoeuvre given its ties with Riyadh, analysts say. “This is a most unwanted crisis for Turkey given its close relationship with both Qatar and Saudi Arabia,” Sinan Ulgen, chairman of … Read more
Qatar has called its tanks into action and warned neighbours that it will open fire on any ships that come into its waters. The country’s military has been put on its highest alert level after an economic and diplomatic blockade was placed on it by other Gulf State nations over its alleged support for terrorists. … Read more
Efforts to resolve a diplomatic dispute pitting Saudi Arabia and its allies against Qatar intensified Thursday, after Washington offered to mediate the biggest crisis to grip the Gulf in years. As Kuwait’s emir shuttled between Gulf capitals for talks, US President Donald Trump offered to host a White House meeting if necessary, in a change … Read more
Qatari investigators have said that a cyber attack which saw the publication of explosive fake news last month that helped trigger a crisis with Gulf neighbours was prepared in April. In a preliminary report published late on Wednesday, the investigators did not say who they held responsible for the hack but said that both Britain … Read more
President Donald Trump called Qatar’s emir Wednesday and offered his services as a mediator in a damaging feud between the emirate and its Gulf neighbors. Trump’s call to Qatari ruler Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, a key US ally, came a day after he accused the country of funding terror. ‘The president offered to … Read more
A senior Emirati official insisted on Wednesday that Gulf Arab states were not seeking regime change in Doha, as tensions built in a bitter feud between Qatar and its neighbours. Speaking to AFP in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates’ state minister for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash accused Qatar of being “the main champion of extremism … Read more
US President Donald Trump has called the king of Saudi Arabia to urge Gulf unity amid an escalating dispute over Qatar’s alleged support for militants. “His message was that we need unity in the region to fight extremist ideology and terrorist financing,” a US official told Reuters news agency. Earlier, he said the Saudis’ move … Read more
Here are the main developments that led to the unprecedented crisis between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours: On May 20, 2017, Qatar says it is the victim of a smear campaign and rejects accusations of it supporting “terrorism” ahead of a landmark visit by US President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia. Trump and Saudi King … Read more
The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday that Qatar would need to provide a “guaranteed roadmap” before it would consider mending ties. Along with neighbouring Saudi Arabia and its closest allies, the UAE severed relations with Qatar on Monday, suspending all flights and giving Qataris 14 days to leave in the biggest diplomatic crisis to … Read more
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, emboldened by US President Donald Trump’s new approach to the region, have seized the chance to isolate Qatar, analysts said Monday. Gas-rich Doha, which has long exercised an independent streak in its foreign policy, last month denied comments which appeared on its official news agency questioning US hostility … Read more
Gulf states on Monday cut diplomatic ties with neighbouring Qatar and kicked it out of a military coalition, less than a month after US President Donald Trump visited the region to cement ties with powerhouse Saudi Arabia. In the region’s most serious diplomatic crisis in years, Qatar’s Gulf neighbours Riyadh, Bahrain and the United Arab … Read more