Palestinian premier, Bahraini foreign minister discuss developments in Gaza

By Abdelsalam Fayez

ISTANBUL (AA) – Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa discussed developments in the Gaza Strip in a phone call Wednesday with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani.

The two sides discussed “the historical brotherly relations between the two countries and ways to develop bilateral cooperation in various fields to achieve the common interests of both countries in addition to the developments in the Gaza Strip and their implications on regional security and stability and the lives of civilians in the strip,” the official Bahrain News Agency reported.

The agency quoted Al Zayani as affirming his country's “firm stance in support of the Palestinian people’s right to establish their independent state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the two-state solution and the international legitimacy resolutions.”

Al Zayani also commended “the Palestinian leadership’s request to the UN Security Council to accept the State of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations, expressing hope that the bid will be approved. In this regard, he affirmed Bahrain’s readiness to provide the required political and diplomatic support to back the Palestinian cause.”

In turn, Mustafa expressed “thanks and appreciation to the foreign affairs minister.”

He lauded “the solid fraternal Bahraini-Palestinian relations in all fields, praising the kingdom’s firm supportive stance towards the Palestinian cause and the rights of the Palestinian people."

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed around 1,200 people.

At least 32,975 Palestinians have since been killed and 75,577 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities. Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which last week asked it to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala