Biden says Hamas attacked Israel in part to stop a historic agreement with Saudi Arabia
Washington (AP): US President Joe Biden said Friday he thought Hamas was motivated to attack Israel in part by a desire to stop that country from normalising relations with Saudi Arabia.
"One of the reasons ... why Hamas moved on Israel, is because they knew I was about to sit down with the Saudis," Biden said at a campaign fundraiser. The US president indicated that he thinks Hamas launched a deadly assault on Oct 7 because, "Guess what? The Saudis wanted to recognise Israel" and were near being able to formally do so.
Jerusalem and Riyadh had been steadily inching closer to normalisation, with Biden working to help bring the two countries together, announcing plans in September at the Group of 20 summit in India to partner on a shipping corridor.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Biden on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September and told him, "I think that under your leadership, Mr President, we can forge a historic peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia."
The Saudis had been insisting on protections and expanded rights for Palestinian interests as part of any broader agreement with Israel. An agreement would have been a feat of diplomacy that could have enabled broader recognition of Israel by other Arab and Muslim-majority nations that have largely opposed Israel since its creation 75 years ago in territory where Palestinians have long resided.
The normalisation push began under former President Donald Trump's administration and was branded as the Abraham Accords. It is an ambitious effort to reshape the region and boost Israel's standing in historic ways. But critics have warned that it skips past Palestinian demands for statehood.
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Teen dies in car stunt accident in Kerala, driver held
Thrissur (Kerala) (PTI): A man was arrested on Monday after a 14-year-old boy was killed when a car overturned during a stunt-driving incident at Chamakala Rajiv Road beach in Chentrappinni here, police said.
The arrested accused was identified as Shajeer alias Saddam (36), a native of Kurikkuzhi in Kaipamangalam.
According to police, the incident occurred around 6 pm on Sunday when the accused allegedly performed dangerous drifting manoeuvres with an open-top Gypsy vehicle at the beach, without following any safety norms.
The accused picked up three minors — Mohammed Sinan (14), Mohammed Shafeer (14) and Ameer (12) — who were playing at the beach, and made them sit at the rear of the vehicle before driving recklessly.
While performing the drifting stunt, the vehicle went out of control and overturned, trapping Sinan underneath.
He suffered severe head injuries and succumbed to the impact, police said.
Based on a complaint, Kaipamangalam police registered a case under Section 105 (culpable homicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
After completing the preliminary probe, police arrested Shajeer on Monday.
He was later produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody, police said.
The accused is involved in 11 criminal cases.
