Bahrain's Crown Prince, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, told reporters on Friday that the United States is "indispensable" in creating peace between Israel and Gaza.
On October 7, Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest-ever airstrikes on Gaza. Israeli officials have said that 1,200 people in Israel were killed in Hamas' attack, according to the Associated Press, while over 11,500 Palestinians have been killed since Saturday, officials from the health ministry in Gaza said, the AP reported. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his country is "at war" and has cut off supplies of food, fuel, electricity and medicine into Gaza.
As Israeli forces continue to target Hamas in northern Gaza, the Crown Prince has condemned both Hamas and Israel for their actions.
"This is an intolerable situation, and we must do everything in our power to stop it. I condemn Hamas, unequivocally," he said Friday ahead of the annual Manama Dialogue security summit. "The attacks on October 7 were barbaric. I unequivocally condemn the air campaign that resulted in the death of over 11,000 people in Gaza, 4,700 of which are children."
Hamas also took roughly 240 hostages during its surprise attack and only four have been released alive.
The Arab leader called on Hamas to release the women and children hostages, but also requested that Israel "release the women and children they hold, in exchange that we can get some sense and a few days or weeks or months or maybe years of peace and calm."
Hamas has offered to exchange its hostages for roughly 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israel, which Israeli officials have rejected.
Newsweek reached out to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email for comment.
The Crown Prince added: "No real security will ever be realized until a real two-state solution is found. So, preserving this path to peace, will demand strong leadership—from us in the region and primarily from the great powers, and specifically from the United States. We believe that the United States is indispensable."
Newsweek reached out to the Crown Prince and the White House via email, as well as the U.S. State Department via online form for comment.
Bahrain was one of the Arab states that signed the Abraham Accords that former President Donald Trump brokered in 2020. The peace deal established ties between Bahrain, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Now, Israel's fellow signatories support a ceasefire in Gaza and a peace deal between Palestinians and Israelis, while also standing with Israel in challenging the militant Islam represented by Hamas and its Iranian backers.
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