Bahrain FM speaks to PA counterpart, condemns Israeli strikes in Gaza

Bahrain Foreign Affairs Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani held a phone call earlier today with Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyadh Al-Maliki during which they discussed the ongoing violence in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza “and the Israeli attacks against the people and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories in the city of Jerusalem,” according to a readout from Zayani’s office.

“The Minister reiterated the Kingdom of Bahrain’s strong condemnation of the attacks launched by the Israeli forces on the Gaza Strip, expressing the condolences of the Kingdom to the leadership and people of Palestine for the martyrs who were killed as a result of the Israeli attacks, and wishing the wounded a speedy recovery,” the statement says.

“The Foreign Minister expressed the Kingdom of Bahrain’s solidarity with the brotherly Palestinian people, stressing the position of the Kingdom of Bahrain strongly supportive of the Palestinian cause, believing in the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the basis of the principle of the two-state solution and the Arab Peace Initiative and in accordance with the relevant international legitimacy decisions.”

Zayani conveyed Bahrain’s support for a Saudi initiative to to hold an executive committee meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the ongoing violence.

The readout from Bahrain, which normalized relations with Israel last year, does not include any mention of Hamas rocket fire.