GCC Slams Israel’s Attack on Khan Younis, Calling it a War Crime

Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of Israeli strikes on a makeshift displacement camp in Mawasi Khan Yunis on September 10, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of Israeli strikes on a makeshift displacement camp in Mawasi Khan Yunis on September 10, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
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GCC Slams Israel’s Attack on Khan Younis, Calling it a War Crime

Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of Israeli strikes on a makeshift displacement camp in Mawasi Khan Yunis on September 10, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of Israeli strikes on a makeshift displacement camp in Mawasi Khan Yunis on September 10, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)

Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi strongly condemned on Tuesday the “brutal massacre carried out by the Israeli forces against innocent Palestinian refugees in Khan Younis in Gaza.”

He stressed that these continuous and brutal attacks perpetrated by the Israeli forces against unarmed civilians in Gaza and the rest of the Palestinian territories “can only be described as deliberate war crimes, revealing a blatant and systematic criminal approach that reflects an utter disregard for international and humanitarian laws and treaties.”

He added that these acts are “blatant contempt for all legal, ethical, and humanitarian values,” the GCC said in a statement.

Albudaiwi called on the international community “to take immediate and urgent action to put an end to these heinous crimes, take decisive measures to cease fire immediately, subject the Israeli forces to accountability for their crimes against humanity, and hold the Israeli government responsible for its racist and barbaric policies against the defenseless Palestinians.”

An Israeli strike hit a crowded Palestinian tent camp early Tuesday in Gaza, killing at least 19 people and wounding 60, Palestinian officials said.

The overnight strike occurred in Mawasi, a sprawl of crowded tent camps along the Gaza coast that Israel designated as a humanitarian zone for hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians to seek shelter from the nearly year-old Israel-Hamas war.

The Muslim World League (MWL) also strongly condemned “the horrific massacres perpetrated by the Israeli forces against the Palestinian people.”

It denounced the continued targeting of unarmed displaced Palestinians in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, located in a designated “safe zone” in the southern Gaza Strip.

In a statement, MWL Secretary General Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Al-Issa expressed his deepest concern over the Israeli government's “blatant violation of all international and humanitarian resolutions, laws, and norms.”

“This ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, unfolding before the eyes of the world, is a direct challenge to the international community's calls for the protection of innocent lives,” he added.

Sheikh Al-Issa emphasized that “there is no justification for this barbarism and humanitarian tragedy other than defiance, arrogance, and revenge against innocent lives. This escalation only serves to complicate the Palestinian issue and hinder the pursuit of peace in the region.”

The MWL called upon the international community “to take urgent action to halt these ongoing massacres, confront the systematic killing, and stop the humanitarian catastrophe facing the Palestinian people.”



Qatari PM in Tehran to Discuss Hormuz, De-escalation

US Vice President JD Vance speaks next to Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani at the start of a quadrilateral meeting between the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Burgenstock luxury hotel complex overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, on June 21, 2026.  FABRICE COFFRINI/Pool via REUTERS
US Vice President JD Vance speaks next to Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani at the start of a quadrilateral meeting between the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Burgenstock luxury hotel complex overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, on June 21, 2026. FABRICE COFFRINI/Pool via REUTERS
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Qatari PM in Tehran to Discuss Hormuz, De-escalation

US Vice President JD Vance speaks next to Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani at the start of a quadrilateral meeting between the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Burgenstock luxury hotel complex overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, on June 21, 2026.  FABRICE COFFRINI/Pool via REUTERS
US Vice President JD Vance speaks next to Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani at the start of a quadrilateral meeting between the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Burgenstock luxury hotel complex overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, on June 21, 2026. FABRICE COFFRINI/Pool via REUTERS

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani will travel to Tehran on Thursday for mediation efforts between Iran and the United States.

He is set to discuss de-escalation and create conditions for dialogue, as well as seek to restore navigation through the Strait of Hormuz to the situation before the war began on Feb. 28.

Al Thani will meet several Iranian officials during the visit to discuss reducing tensions and creating conditions for dialogue.

Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said the talks would also address freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and the need to restore it to the situation that prevailed before Feb. 28.

He said Doha remained committed to the diplomatic track to resolve disputes and promote security and stability in the region.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Al Thani would discuss with Iranian officials the continuation of Qatar’s mediation efforts and regional developments.

Iran’s ILNA news agency said the visit was part of mediation efforts between Iran and the United States, following similar moves by Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi in Tehran.

Qatar played an unofficial mediating role between Washington and Tehran during the war and took part in contacts that preceded a ceasefire in June, before the understandings collapsed and tensions escalated again.


Kuwait Foils Biggest Drug Operation in Its History

Sheikh Fahad Yousef Saud Al-Sabah, Kuwait's First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior. (KUNA)
Sheikh Fahad Yousef Saud Al-Sabah, Kuwait's First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior. (KUNA)
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Kuwait Foils Biggest Drug Operation in Its History

Sheikh Fahad Yousef Saud Al-Sabah, Kuwait's First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior. (KUNA)
Sheikh Fahad Yousef Saud Al-Sabah, Kuwait's First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior. (KUNA)

Sheikh Fahad Yousef Saud Al-Sabah, Kuwait's First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, announced on Wednesday the foiling of the largest drug bust in Kuwait's history, consisting of approximately 5 tons of raw "Lyrica" powder and nearly 4 million capsules ready for sale, worth around 150 million Kuwaiti dinars, or around $486.8 million US dollars.

Speaking as part of a national drug prevention campaign, he said that Tuesday's bust also included an integrated factory for producing the psychotropic substance Lyrica, alongside equipment for filling and distributing capsules.

The bust reflects the magnitude of the danger of drugs to society, he added.

"The quantity seized was ready to be sold, but the suspect did not act to distribute it out of fear of falling under the jurisdiction of the new law."

Al-Yousef stressed that the new drug law "has contributed to boosting deterrence, making drug dealers think twice before attempting to harm any citizen or resident on Kuwaiti soil."

"Combating drugs is at the forefront of the Ministry of Interior's priorities, which continues to crack down on smugglers and distributors, tighten surveillance and seizure measures, and dry up the sources of this scourge," he said.


Saudi Arabia Offers Condolences over Tragic PIMS Hospital Fire in Pakistan

People gather outside a nursery in the gynecology ward following a fire at a hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP)
People gather outside a nursery in the gynecology ward following a fire at a hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP)
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Saudi Arabia Offers Condolences over Tragic PIMS Hospital Fire in Pakistan

People gather outside a nursery in the gynecology ward following a fire at a hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP)
People gather outside a nursery in the gynecology ward following a fire at a hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. (AP)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's sincere condolences and sympathy to the families of those who died, as well as to the government and people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, following the tragic fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital in Islamabad, which claimed the lives of several newborn babies, SPA reported.

In a statement, the ministry said Saudi Arabia stands in solidarity with the victims' families and the government and people of Pakistan following this tragic incident, wishing Pakistan and its people security and safety.