05 Jan 2021; MEMO: Hamas yesterday congratulated Saudi Arabia and Qatar following the announcement that the Gulf states had brought to an end an almost four year blockade on Doha.
"We hope that the crisis in the Gulf would be completely resolved and unity between the Gulf countries would be fully restored," the statement said, adding: "This will contribute to solidifying the Arab positions and stances."
The statement continued: "On this happy occasion, we call for more intra-Arab dialogue to agree on all controversial issues and solve all disputes."
It concluded: "Finally, we hope that 2021 will be the year of ending the Palestinian rift and restoring unity among all the nations of the Ummah."
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing Doha of "supporting terrorism" and aligning with Iran in defiance of the Gulf consensus. Qatar denies the charges and insists that the boycott is an attempt to undermine its sovereignty and control its national decisions.
Kuwait, which has mediated efforts to reconcile between the parties, announced yesterday that Saudi Arabia had agreed to reopen its air, land and sea borders with Doha.
