Palestinians in Gaza rally against Bahrain-Israel normalization deal

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have staged a demonstration in protest at Bahrain’s move to join the United Arab Emirates in agreeing to normalize relations with Israel in a deal announced by US President Donald Trump.

The Palestinians on Saturday trampled upon and burnt portraits of Israeli, US, Bahraini and the UAE leaders during the protest organized by the Hamas Palestinian resistance movement.

Demonstrators set fire to pictures of US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah and the UAE's Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nayhan.

"We have to fight the virus of normalization and block all its paths before it succeeds, to prevent it from spreading," said Hamas official Maher al-Holy.

In a tweet on Friday, US President Trump announced the normalization of bilateral ties between Bahrain and the occupying regime of Israel, the second Arab state to join a deal widely censured as a betrayal of the Palestinian cause.

Trump says Bahrain joining UAE in normalizing ties with Israel

Trump has announced the normalization of bilateral ties between Bahrain and the occupying regime of Israel, the second Arab state to join a deal widely censured as a betrayal of the Palestinian cause.

Trump said that Bahrain had agreed to join the United Arab Emirates in striking a deal to normalize relations with Tel Aviv.

Bahrain will join Israel and the UAE for a signing ceremony at the White House hosted by Trump on September 15. The Israel-UAE ceremony will be attended by Netanyahu and Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Saeb Erekat, also said in the West Bank that the normalization move would fail to resolve the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian issue.

"The Bahraini, Israeli, American agreement to normalize relations is now part of a bigger package in the region, it isn't about peace, it is not about relations between countries. We are witnessing an alliance, a military alliance being created in the region," Erekat told Reuters.

All Palestinian factions have unanimously denounced the normalization agreements between Israel and the Persian Gulf Arab countries as a stab in the back of the oppressed Palestinian nation and a betrayal of their cause.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement on Friday strongly denounced the Israel-Bahrain normalization deal, stating that the agreement shows the Manama regime’s capitulation to Washington.

“The agreement reflects the US custody of Bahrain. The Bahraini monarch and his government act upon US instructions and orders,” Dawood Shihab, a spokesman for the movement, said in an interview with Lebanon-based and Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network.

In a statement released on Saturday, Iran's Foreign Ministry also strongly condemned the deal, saying the Manama regime had sacrificed the Palestinian cause against the occupation for the upcoming US presidential election through the “shameful” treaty.

Iran condemns Bahrain’s ‘shameful’ normalization deal with Israel

Iran strongly condemns a normalization agreement between Bahrain and Israel, saying the Manama regime sacrificed the Palestinian cause for the upcoming US presidential election through the “shameful” treaty.

It added that the Bahraini regime had committed a “fundamental mistake” by turning its back to its own people instead of gaining legitimacy from them.

Bahrain’s decision for the US-brokered normalization of ties with Israel was also condemned by Bahrain's al-Wefaq opposition group, which called it "betrayal" to the Palestinian people.

The group said in a statement that it opposes the normalization with Israel due to its support for the Palestinian people.

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