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Palestinian Authority Welcomes Saudi Ambassador’s Visit

Saudi Ambassador to Palestine Nayef al-Sudairi presenting credentials on August 12 in Amman, Jordan, to Advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas for Diplomatic Affairs, Majdi al-Khalidi. (WAFA)
Saudi Ambassador to Palestine Nayef al-Sudairi presenting credentials on August 12 in Amman, Jordan, to Advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas for Diplomatic Affairs, Majdi al-Khalidi. (WAFA)
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Palestinian Authority Welcomes Saudi Ambassador’s Visit

Saudi Ambassador to Palestine Nayef al-Sudairi presenting credentials on August 12 in Amman, Jordan, to Advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas for Diplomatic Affairs, Majdi al-Khalidi. (WAFA)
Saudi Ambassador to Palestine Nayef al-Sudairi presenting credentials on August 12 in Amman, Jordan, to Advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas for Diplomatic Affairs, Majdi al-Khalidi. (WAFA)

The Palestinian government and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) welcomed on Monday the visit of the Saudi ambassador to Palestine and consul in Jerusalem, Nayef al-Sudairi, describing it as a historic milestone for developing fraternal relations between the two countries.

“The visit is considered an important historic milestone for the development of fraternal relations between the two countries and opening more horizons for joint cooperation in all fields,” the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates posted on its official X account.

It added that it values the support of Saudi Arabia under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Prince Mohammad bin Salman, for the just and legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people in all forums.

The visit is a first for a Saudi high-ranking official to the Palestinian territories since the appointment of Al-Sudairi as non-resident ambassador to Palestine and Consul General of Saudi Arabia in Jerusalem.

Al-Sudairi said the step will have positive outcomes that will benefit the Palestinians in terms of organizing relations and giving an official boost to relations between the two countries. “We look forward to a promising future for this relationship to make it even better,” he said.

On Monday, Hussein al-Sheikh, Secretary General of the PLO Executive Committee, welcomed the visit of Sudairi.

“The Ambassador will present his official credentials to President Mahmoud Abbas within a few days,” wrote Al-Sheikh in a tweet.

Al-Sudairi had presented on August 12 his letter of credentials to the Palestinian authorities.

He delivered the letter of credentials to Majdi Al-Khalidi, advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas for diplomatic affairs, at the Palestinian Embassy in Jordan.

Al-Sudairi is the first Saudi Ambassador to Palestine.

On Monday, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry had reported that its minister, Riyad al-Maliki, sent a congratulatory letter to his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, congratulating him on the occasion of the 93rd Saudi National Day.

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With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
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With Nowhere Else to Hide, Gazans Shelter in Former Prison

24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)
24 July 2024, Palestinian Territories, Khan Younis: Displaced Palestinians stay in Asda prison in Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered them to leave their homes in the towns of Abasan, Bani Suhaila, Ma'an, Al-Zana and a number of other villages, amid Israel-Hamas conflict. (dpa)

After weeks of Israeli bombardment left them with nowhere else to go, hundreds of Palestinians have ended up in a former Gaza prison built to hold murderers and thieves.

Yasmeen al-Dardasi said she and her family passed wounded people they were unable to help as they evacuated from a district in the southern city of Khan Younis towards its Central Correction and Rehabilitation Facility.

They spent a day under a tree before moving on to the former prison, where they now live in a prayer room. It offers protection from the blistering sun, but not much else.

Dardasi's husband has a damaged kidney and just one lung, but no mattress or blanket.

"We are not settled here either," said Dardasi, who like many Palestinians fears she will be uprooted once again.

Israel has said it goes out of its way to protect civilians in its war with the Palestinian group Hamas, which runs Gaza and led the attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that sparked the latest conflict.

Palestinians, many of whom have been displaced several times, say nowhere is free of Israeli bombardment, which has reduced much of Gaza to rubble.

An Israeli air strike killed at least 90 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in the Al-Mawasi area on July 13, the territory's health ministry said, in an attack that Israel said targeted Hamas' elusive military chief Mohammed Deif.

On Thursday, Gaza's health ministry said Israeli military strikes on areas in eastern Khan Younis had killed 14 people.

Entire neighborhoods have been flattened in one of the most densely populated places in the world, where poverty and unemployment have long been widespread.

According to the United Nations, nine in ten people across Gaza are now internally displaced.

Israeli soldiers told Saria Abu Mustafa and her family that they should flee for safety as tanks were on their way, she said. The family had no time to change so they left in their prayer clothes.

After sleeping outside on sandy ground, they too found refuge in the prison, among piles of rubble and gaping holes in buildings from the battles which were fought there. Inmates had been released long before Israel attacked.

"We didn't take anything with us. We came here on foot, with children walking with us," she said, adding that many of the women had five or six children with them and that water was hard to find.

She held her niece, who was born during the conflict, which has killed her father and brothers.

When Hamas-led gunmen burst into southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7 they killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the air and ground offensive Israel launched in response, Palestinian health officials say.

Hana Al-Sayed Abu Mustafa arrived at the prison after being displaced six times.

If Egyptian, US and Qatari mediators fail to secure a ceasefire they have long said is close, she and other Palestinians may be on the move once again. "Where should we go? All the places that we go to are dangerous," she said.