Bahrain’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, became the first Arab leader to publicly condemn Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
His comments were made over the weekend before the annual Manama Dialogue security summit.
"This is an intolerable situation, and we must do everything in our power to stop it. I condemn Hamas, unequivocally. The attacks on October 7 were barbaric," he said, though he also said he unequivocally condemns "the air campaign that resulted in the death of over 11,000 people in Gaza, 4,700 of which are children."
The Crown Prince called on Hamas to release the women and children hostages it is holding, 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."
Al Khalifa also said that security would not be realized without a “two-state solution”.
"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," he said.
Bahrain is one of several Arab countries that agreed to normalize relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords in 2020.