An influential Saudi prince has issued a strong condemnation of Hamas in a rare rebuke from one of the Middle East’s main power brokers.
Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi ambassador to the UK and US, said he preferred “civil insurrection and disobedience” to the murderous tactics adopted by the Palestinian terror group.
“I categorically condemn Hamas’s targeting of civilian targets of any age or gender as it is accused of,” Prince al-Faisal said in a speech at the Baker Institute for Public Policy, a US think tank housed at Rice University in Texas.
“But equally, I condemn Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of Palestinian innocent civilians in Gaza and the attempt to forcibly drive them into Sinai,” he added, citing Israel’s recent bombardment of the enclave and order for its residents to flee south towards Egypt ahead of an expected ground offensive.
Prince al-Faisal’s remarks underline recent comments from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and indicate Riyadh may still be amenable to a historic normalisation deal with Israel, despite having put on hold talks amid the current war. » | Sophia Yan | Friday, October 20, 2023
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I concur with Prince Turki al-Faisal’s wise words. His forthrightness is both refreshing and courageous.
Hamas’s crimes were vile and depraved, but peace will never be achieved unless the root causes of the enmities and hatred between the Palestinians and the Israelis are addressed and corrected.
Whilst it is undeniable that Israel has a right to respond to the atrocities committed by Hamas, it is in the Israelis’ own interests to ensure that their responses are measured, appropriate and proportionate. Civilised behaviour demands that the punishment should always befit the crime. If Israel’s reaction turns out not to fit the crimes committed by Hamas, their disproportionate punishments will engender even more anti-Semitism throughout the world – a cancerous phenomenon which in many countries is already at fever pitch.
Decent people naturally want the best for Israel and the Israelis. Please don’t let them down, Mr Netanyahu. The world is watching. – © Mark Alexander
