Published October 22, 2023
United States President Joe Biden said on Friday he believed Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel two weeks ago was aimed at disrupting warming ties between the Jewish state and Saudi Arabia.
“One of the reasons why they acted like they did… why Hamas moved on Israel… [was] because they knew I was about to sit down with the Saudis,” Biden told guests at a campaign fundraiser.
“The Saudis wanted to recognize Israel [and] unite the Middle East,” he said.
Momentum toward a landmark US-brokered deal to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia — guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites, Mecca and Medina — was shattered by Hamas militants’ attack on October 7.
The Islamist group stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip, taking more than 200 hostages and killing at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, who were shot, mutilated or burned to death on the first day of the raid, Israeli officials said.
Israel has since vowed to destroy Hamas, and says about 1,500 of the group’s fighters were killed in clashes before its army regained control of the area initially under attack.
A bombing campaign launched in response has leveled entire city blocks in Gaza, so far killing 4,137 Palestinians, mostly civilians, the Hamas-run Health Ministry there said.
Saudi officials announced on October 14 during a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the capital Riyadh that the country had suspended talks with Israel on normalizing relations.
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SOURCE: https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/10/22/world/americas-emea/warming-israel-saudi-ties-behind-hamas-attack/1915886
RELATED: Saudi Prince’s Takedown Of Israel, Hamas Over Gaza War Mentions India
Prince Faisal headed Saudi’s intel agency for 24 years and also served as ambassador
Published October 22, 2023
Hamas’ surprise attacks on Israel cities and the brutal retaliation have claimed over 5,800 lives so far, according to UN estimates.
In powerful remarks on the ongoing war in Gaza, a Saudi Arabia prince, who was the country’s former intelligence chief, has slammed both Hamas and Israel and said there are “no heroes in this conflict, only victims”. Turki Al Faisal’s speech at a US university also mentions India when he cites the example of the Independence movement as an example of resisting occupation through civil disobedience.
A viral video of the address starts with the 78-year-old saying that all occupied people have a right to resist their occupation, even militarily.
“I do not support the military option in Palestine. I prefer the other option: civil insurrection and disobedience. It brought down the British empire in India and the Soviet empire in eastern Europe,” he said.
Israel, he said, has overwhelming military superiority and the world can see the devastation it is causing in Gaza.
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SOURCE: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/israel-gaza-war-israel-hamas-war-turki-al-faisal-saudi-princes-takedown-of-israel-hamas-over-gaza-war-mentions-india-4504064
RELATED: Hamas attacked Israel to derail its warming ties with Saudis: Biden
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a prime-time address to the nation about his approaches to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, humanitarian assistance in Gaza and continued support for Ukraine in their war with Russia, from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S. October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/Pool/ File Photo
Published October 21, 2023
Washington, United States — President Joe Biden said Friday that he believed Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel two weeks ago was aimed at disrupting warming ties between the country and Saudi Arabia.
“One of the reasons why they acted like they did… why Hamas moved on Israel… (was) because they knew I was about to sit down with the Saudis,” Biden told guests at a campaign fundraiser.
“The Saudis wanted to recognize Israel… unite the Middle East,” he said.
Momentum toward a landmark US-brokered deal to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia — guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites — was shattered by the October 7 attack by Hamas militants on Israel.
The Islamist group stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip, taking more than 200 hostages and killing at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death on the first day of the raid, according to Israeli officials.
Israel has since vowed to destroy Hamas, and says around 1,500 of the group’s fighters were killed in clashes before its army regained control of the area initially under attack.
A bombing campaign launched in response has levelled entire city blocks in Gaza, so far killing 4,137 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Saudi officials announced on October 14 during a visit to Riyadh by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the country had suspended talks with Israel on normalization of relations.
READ FULL STORY
SOURCE: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1849255/hamas-attacked-israel-to-derail-its-warming-ties-with-saudis-biden
RELATED: Biden says Hamas attack on Israel aimed at disrupting Israel-Saudi thaw
Saudi officials reportedly paused normalisation talks with Israel following Palestinian group’s October 7 attacks.
US President Joe Biden has been pressing Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalise ties [Jonathan Ernst/Pool via Reuters]
Published October 21, 2023
United States President Joe Biden has said he believes Hamas carried out its unprecedented attacks on Israel to derail a diplomatic thaw between the country and Saudi Arabia.
Speaking at a campaign fundraiser in Washington on Friday, Biden said Hamas carried out the October 7 attacks in part to disrupt his efforts to normalise Israel-Saudi relations.
“Guess what? The Saudis wanted to recognise Israel … unite the Middle East,” Biden said, telling donors the Palestinian group knew he was “about to sit down with the Saudis”.
Biden last week told CBS’s 60 Minutes that the prospect of normalisation was “still alive” but would take time, after Saudi officials reportedly paused talks with Israel in the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7 attacks and the subsequent Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Riyadh has expressed concern about the fate of Palestinians in Gaza, which has been pummelled by Israeli air strikes that Palestinian officials say have killed at least 4,137 people.
Saudi Arabia backed the US-brokered Abraham Accords that saw the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalise ties with Israel in 2020, but has so far not recognised Israel itself.
