Royal Saudi Naval Forces Join Hajj Security Efforts
The Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF) are participating in the Hajj season 1446 AH as part of the Ministry of Defense's comprehensive security plan.
Their role includes providing support to government agencies operating at seaports, enhancing efforts to secure the entry of pilgrims and ensure safety, SPA reported.
The forces are tasked with inspecting suspicious packages at seaports, detecting and identifying explosives utilizing advanced technologies and specialized expertise in maritime security.
Additionally, a team of specialized divers from the RSNF will assist Civil Defense teams in search and rescue operations during flash floods or heavy rainfall at the holy sites.
Represented by the Western Fleet, the RSNF will support internal security forces at the holy sites with infantry units, special forces, drone aviation, naval military police units, and other specialized personnel for various auxiliary tasks.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
Israel backs an anti-Hamas armed group known for looting aid in Gaza. Here's what we know
IJERUSALEM: Israel is supporting armed groups of Palestinians in Gaza in what it says is a move to counter Hamas. But officials from the UN and aid organizations say the military is allowing them to loot food and other supplies from their trucks. One self-styled militia, which calls itself the Popular Forces, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, says it is guarding newly created, Israeli-backed food distribution centers in southern Gaza. Aid workers say it has a long history of looting UN trucks. Gaza's armed groups have ties to powerful clans or extended families and often operate as criminal gangs. Aid workers allege Israel's backing of the groups is part of a wider effort to control all aid operations in the strip. Israel denies allowing looters to operate in areas it controls. Here's what we know about anti-Hamas armed groups in Gaza: Who are these groups? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a social media video Thursday that Israel had 'activated' clans in Gaza to oppose Hamas. He didn't elaborate how Israel is supporting them or what role Israel wants them to play. Netanyahu's comments were in response to a political opponent accusing him of arming 'crime families' in Gaza. Clans, tribes and extended families have strong influence in Gaza, where their leaders often help mediate disputes. Some have long been armed to protect their group's interests, and some have morphed into gangs involved in smuggling drugs or running protection rackets. After seizing power in 2007, Hamas clamped down on Gaza's gangs — sometimes with brute force and sometimes by steering perks their way. But with Hamas' weakening power after 20 months of war with Israel, gangs have regained freedom to act. The leadership of a number of clans — including the clan from which the Abu Shabab group's members hail — have issued statements denouncing looting and cooperation with Israel. A self-proclaimed 'nationalist force' Besides the Abu Shabab group, it is not known how many armed groups Israel is supporting. The Abu Shabab group went public in early May, declaring itself a 'nationalist force.' It said it was protecting aid, including around the food distribution hubs run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a mainly American private contractor that Israel intends to replace the UN-led aid network. Aid workers and Palestinians who know the group estimate it has several hundred fighters. The Abu Shabab group's media office told The Associated Press it was collaborating with GHF 'to ensure that the food and medicine reaches its beneficiaries.' It said it was not involved in distribution, but that its fighters secured the surroundings of distribution centers run by GHF inside military-controlled zones in the Rafah area. A spokesperson with GHF said it had 'no collaboration' with Abu Shabab. 'We do have local Palestinian workers we are very proud of, but none is armed, and they do not belong to Abu Shabab's organization,' the spokesperson said, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with the group's rules. Before the war, Yasser Abu Shabab was involved in smuggling cigarettes and drugs from Egypt and Israel into Gaza through crossings and tunnels, according to two members of his extended family, one of whom was once part of his group. Hamas arrested Abu Shabab but freed him from prison along with most other inmates when the war began in October 2023, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Abu Shabab's media office said he was summoned by police before the war but wasn't officially accused or tried. It also said claims the group was involved in attacking aid trucks were 'exaggerated,' saying its fighters 'took the minimum amount of food and water necessary.' Aid workers say it is notorious for looting The head of the association in Gaza that provides trucks and drivers for aid groups said their members' vehicles have been attacked many times by Abu Shabab's fighters. Nahed Sheheiber said the group has been active in Israeli-controlled eastern parts of Rafah and Khan Younis, targeting trucks as they enter Gaza from the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel. Troops nearby 'did nothing' to stop attacks, he said. Sheheiber said that when Hamas policemen have tried to confront gangs or guard truck convoys, they were attacked by Israeli troops. One driver, Issam Abu Awda, told the AP he was attacked by Abu Shabab fighters last July. The fighters stopped his truck, blindfolded and handcuffed him and his assistant, then loaded the supplies off the vehicle, he said. Abu Awda said nearby Israeli troops didn't intervene. These kinds of attacks are still happening and highlight 'a disturbing pattern,' according to Jonathan Whittall, from the UN humanitarian coordinator, OCHA. 'Those who have blocked and violently ransacked aid trucks seem to have been protected' by Israeli forces, said Whittall, head of OCHA's office for the occupied Palestinian territories. And, he added, they have now become the 'protectors of the goods being distributed through Israel's new militarized hubs,' referring to the GHF-run sites. The Israeli military did not reply when asked for comment on allegations it has allowed armed groups to loot trucks. But the Israeli prime minister's office called the accusations 'fake news,' saying, 'Israel didn't allow looters to operate in Israeli controlled areas.' Israel often accuses Hamas of stealing from trucks. What does all this have to do with aid? Muhammad Shehada, a political analyst from Gaza who is a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said he doesn't believe Israel's support for armed groups is aimed at directly fighting Hamas. So far there has been no attempt to deploy the groups against the militants. Instead, he said, Israel is using the gangs and the looting to present GHF 'as the only alternative to provide food to Palestinians,' since its supplies get in while the UN's don't. Israel wants the GHF to replace the UN-led aid system because it claims Hamas has been siphoning off large amounts of supplies. The UN denies that significant amounts have been taken by Hamas. Israel has also said it aims to move all Palestinians in Gaza to a 'sterile zone' in the south, around the food hubs, while it fights Hamas elsewhere. The UN and aid groups have rejected that as using food as a tool for forced displacement. The Abu Shabab group has issued videos online urging Palestinians to move to tent camps in Rafah. Israel barred all food and other supplies from entering Gaza for 2 ½ months , pending the start of GHF – a blockade that has brought the population to the brink of famine. GHF started distributing food boxes on May 26 at three hubs guarded by private contractors inside Israeli military zones. Israel has let in some trucks of aid for the UN to distribute. But the UN says it has been able to get little of it into the hands of Palestinians because of Israeli military restrictions, including requiring its trucks to use roads where looters are known to operate. 'It's Israel's way of telling the UN, if you want to try to bring aid into Gaza, good luck with this,' said Shehada. 'We will force you to go through a road where everything you brought will be looted.'
Arab News
7 hours ago
- Arab News
Thousands protest in Tel Aviv for release of Gaza hostages
TEL AVIV: Thousands of people demonstrated Saturday night in Tel Aviv to demand the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip and a ceasefire after 20 months of war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. The crowd gathered at the so-called Hostages Square chanting 'The people choose the hostages!' and demanding 'a comprehensive deal' for their return, according to a statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. Earlier on Saturday, Hamas released a photograph of one of the remaining hostages, Matan Zangauker, appearing to be in poor health, with a warning that he would not survive. His mother, Einav Zangauker, speaking at the protest in Tel Aviv, said 'I can no longer bear this nightmare. The angel of death, Netanyahu, continues to sacrifice the hostages,' AFPTV footage showed, referring to the Israeli prime minister. Noam Katz, the daughter of hostage Lior Rudaeff, who has been declared dead but whose body is still in the Gaza Strip, called for an immediate halt to the fighting. 'Do not send more soldiers to risk their lives to bring back our fathers. Bring them back through an agreement. Stop the war!' she declared to the crowd at the square, the Families Forum said. On Friday, the Israeli army announced the death of four soldiers in the Gaza Strip and said it lacked 10,000 troops to meet its needs in the Palestinian territory. Negotiations aimed at ending the fighting, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States have remained unsuccessful so far. Tal Kupershtein, father of Bar Kupershtein, who was abducted at the age of 21, demanded that his son 'come home now!' 'I call on the prime minister to accept an agreement for the return of all the hostages.' Of the 251 people abducted on October 7, 2023, 55 are still held in the Gaza Strip, at least 31 of whom are dead, according to Israeli authorities.
Arab News
7 hours ago
- Arab News
What will it take for Syria to win permanent US sanctions relief?
LONDON: After 13 years of war and international isolation, a glimmer of hope emerged for Syria on May 23 when the US government announced a temporary easing of sanctions, ushering in an opportunity for recovery and reconstruction. But Syrian officials warn the relief may be short-lived. Without the full and permanent lifting of restrictions, they say, the door to recovery could close just as quickly as it opened, especially with fresh conditions now attached. Syria's interim government, led by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, must navigate multiple US demands, from expelling foreign militants to integrating Kurdish forces and verifying the destruction of chemical weapons. The road to full sanctions relief is further complicated by political realities in Washington, where a divided Congress remains largely opposed to reengaging with Damascus. 'There is considerable disappointment in Damascus that sanctions are only being suspended temporarily and not definitively,' Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, told Arab News. 'But many of the sanctions were imposed by Congress and will have to be lifted by Congress.' Following President Donald Trump's announcement at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Riyadh, where he offered Syria 'a fresh start' by removing sanctions, the Treasury Department issued General License 25, temporarily suspending key restrictions. The Treasury said relief was conditional on Syria denying safe haven to terrorist groups and protecting religious and ethnic minorities. Parallel to this, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a 180-day Caesar Act waiver to enable humanitarian aid to enter Syria and help restore essential services like electricity, water, and sanitation. • Western sanctions began in 1979 and expanded sharply after 2011 in response to Bashar Assad's crackdown on protests. • Arms embargoes and dual-use controls remain, and new targeted sanctions have been imposed on human rights abusers. • In May, the US and EU lifted most economic sanctions after Assad's ouster and the formation of a transitional government. This relief marked the first phase of a broader US strategy aimed at pushing Syria's interim government to meet a series of sweeping demands. A US official told AFP that while some Trump administration officials support immediate sanctions relief, others prefer a phased approach, making broader actions conditional on Syria meeting specific targets. This shift reflects a broader recalibration of Western expectations. 'With the fall of the Assad regime, the US and its European allies have clearly stepped back from the demands they once directed at Damascus,' Syrian-Canadian analyst Camille Otrakji told Arab News. 'US Vice President JD Vance has repeatedly stated that his country will not promote democracy anymore. The new priority is stability, seen as a foundation for regional development and future peace agreements.' As part of that shift, Washington's earlier insistence on compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254 — adopted in 2015 to guide Syria's democratic transition — has largely faded. In its place, Otrakji said, are more focused and immediate goals. These include 'removing foreign fighters from the Syrian army, and possibly from Syria as a whole, reaching a settlement with the Kurds, and reducing violence against Alawite communities in the coastal region,' he added. Yet even these goals appear increasingly flexible. On June 2, the US gave its approval to a Syrian government plan to integrate thousands of foreign fighters into the national army, as long as the process remains transparent, Reuters reported. This section contains relevant reference points, placed in (Opinion field) Despite the evolving benchmarks, progress is underway. Landis explained that Al-Sharaa is already working to fulfill US demands, including the removal of Palestinian militants. 'Al-Sharaa has arrested or expelled the top Palestinian militia leaders and militants living in Syria,' Landis said. Leaders of pro-Iran Palestinian factions allied with the Assad regime have left Syria under pressure from the new authorities, handing over their weapons as part of a broader US demand to curb Iran-backed groups, two Palestinian sources told AFP on May 23. Syria is also under pressure to integrate the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces into the national military and take responsibility for prisons and camps holding thousands of Daesh fighters and their families. 'Securing Daesh detention centers will require coordination with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the SDF,' Landis said. 'The effort to find a compromise with US-backed Kurdish forces continues, despite some important differences. 'Two Aleppo neighborhoods were recently turned over by the YPG to Al-Sharaa's forces. More recently, a prison exchange was negotiated between the new Syrian military and the SDF.' After Daesh's 2019 defeat, thousands of suspected affiliates were detained in northeast Syria. The largest camps, Al-Hol and Roj, are run by the Kurdish-led AANES and guarded by the SDF. Security at the camps is fragile, with the SDF stretched by conflict with Turkish-backed forces and resource shortages. A 2023 Daesh attack on Al-Hasakah prison highlighted the risk of mass escapes. Aid cuts and a potential US withdrawal from northeast Syria threaten further destabilization, raising fears that thousands of Daesh-affiliated detainees could escape, posing a threat to global security. Recent developments suggest progress. In March, the Al-Sharaa government reached key agreements with the Kurdish-led administration to integrate the SDF into the national army, place Kurdish-run institutions under central control, and jointly manage Daesh detainees. The first formal steps followed in May, when Kurdish authorities and Syria's transitional government agreed on a plan to evacuate Syrians from Al-Hol camp to government-held areas. Previously, repatriations had only been allowed to Kurdish-controlled zones. In Aleppo, the YPG, which is a component of the SDF, handed over the Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighborhoods to the Syrian government. These predominantly Kurdish districts had been under YPG/SDF control since 2015 and remained semi-autonomous even after the Assad government recaptured most of Aleppo in 2016. Landis said similar negotiations are underway with Druze militias in southern Syria. 'Arriving at an agreed-upon solution will take time, and both sides are still debating how integral regional militias will be allowed to remain and how much local authority their commanders will have,' he said. In the past few months, Syria's Druze community has faced renewed violence and sectarian tensions, particularly in areas near Damascus like Jaramana and Sahnaya. In late April, a fake audio recording triggered sectarian violence in the Damascus suburbs of Jaramana and Sahnaya. Clashes between Druze militias, Sunni groups, and government forces left dozens of civilians dead. Human rights monitors reported extrajudicial killings by government-affiliated units. Although local ceasefires and Druze police deployments have eased tensions in some areas, mistrust runs deep. The Druze community continues to demand greater autonomy and security guarantees, resisting government disarmament efforts amid fears of future attacks. Concerns have been amplified by sectarian killings targeting the Alawite community, particularly along Syria's coast. Between March and April, armed groups — including some tied to the transitional government — reportedly executed Alawite civilians and torched their homes. On May 28, the EU sanctioned two individuals and three groups accused of carrying out the attacks. While the EU has announced plans to lift sanctions, foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the move was 'conditional' and that sanctions could be resumed if Syria's new government does not keep the peace. That fragile peace, analysts say, depends largely on how the transitional leadership navigates Syria's complex social fabric. 'For the new transitional leadership, managing relationships with Syria's minorities and broader society, each with its own aspirations, will be essential to stabilizing the country and permanently lifting the threat of renewed US sanctions,' said Otrakji. One of the most delicate challenges, he said, lies in the relationship between Al-Sharaa's administration and the Alawite community, which held significant power under the Assad regime. 'Establishing a local police or security force may be the only realistic solution to address mutual distrust and security concerns,' Otrakji said. 'A handful of influential Alawite figures are now competing to convince their community, and other relevant actors, that they should play the leading role in protecting and representing Alawite interests.' As Al-Sharaa struggles to assert control, fears of renewed civil war persist. US Secretary of State Rubio warned in late May that Syria could be only weeks away from 'potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions.' Progressing to the next phase of US relief will require Syria to normalize relations with Israel by joining the Abraham Accords. The Abraham Accords are a series of diplomatic agreements brokered by the US in 2020, normalizing relations between Israel and several Arab states, including the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. The accords marked a significant shift in Middle East diplomacy, promoting cooperation despite the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Their potential has been undermined, however, by public outcry over the war in Gaza. Al-Sharaa has publicly signaled openness to diplomacy. 'Al-Sharaa has reiterated his interest in arriving at a peaceful settlement with Israel,' said Landis. 'He has made a trust-building gesture by handing over the papers of the celebrated Israeli spy Eli Cohen.' The Syrian leadership reportedly approved last month's return of 2,500 documents related to Cohen and his personal belongings. The Israeli spy was executed in Damascus in 1965. The archive, held by Syrian intelligence for six decades, included his letters, will, passports, and surveillance photos. 'Word is that Al-Sharaa has also been trying to reach out to Israel through the US to establish talks,' Landis said. Despite Syrian statements seeking peace, Israel remains cautious. Since Assad's fall, it has conducted hundreds of airstrikes across Syria and seized control of a UN-monitored buffer zone inside Syrian territory. Taking advantage of the power vacuum left by Assad's ouster, Israeli troops advanced up to 15 km into Syrian territory, establishing a 'zone of control' and a deeper 'sphere of influence' reaching as far as 60 km east, particularly in the southern provinces of Quneitra and Daraa. In recent months, the Israeli military has established at least nine new outposts and bases, including on Mount Hermon and within the former UN Disengagement Observer Force buffer zone. Israeli troops have also occupied several Syrian villages, including Al-Kiswa, Al-Bakar, Sidon Al-Golan, Sidon Al-Hanout and Al-Adnaniyah. Still, some see potential for reconciliation. 'The majority of Syrians want to have peace at home, and they want to have peace in the neighborhood,' Ibrahim Al-Assil, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told CNN. 'The issue with Israel is indeed complicated, but it's not impossible to resolve the issue of the Golan Heights, the issue of the borders, the concerns of both sides are deep and real and serious,' he said. 'That means there is a potential for these talks, and there is a potential for having better relationships on both sides, the Israeli side and the Syrian side, and that require both sides to start a long journey of negotiations between both of them, and to believe that a better relationship is possible between both of them.' Ghassan Ibrahim, founder of the Global Arab Network, believes the real test for Al-Sharaa's government will be reconstruction. 'The key now is how the government handles the opportunities it's being given — politically, regionally, internationally, and with sanctions relief,' he told Arab News. 'Will reconstruction be piecemeal, with companies simply seizing contracts, or will it be comprehensive?' The London-based Syria analyst added: 'Ideally, reconstruction should create opportunities for businesses, rebuild infrastructure, improve quality of life, and promote stability — ultimately encouraging refugees to return. 'These are the things that will be judged moving forward.'
