05 Dec 2021; MEMO: Kuwait has issued a decree banning the entry of commercial vessels carrying goods to and from Israel from its territorial waters.
The Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, Rana Al-Faris, announced the ban yesterday.
The Gulf state's daily newspaper Al-Anba reported today that "The ban includes all ships coming from other ports to unload part of their cargo in Kuwaiti ports whenever they are carrying any of the goods stipulated in the ban, with the intention of shipping them to and from… Israel"
The move follows a bill passed by Kuwaiti parliament in May, prohibiting Kuwaiti nationals and expats residents from visiting Israel and banning expressions of support for Israel. In the same month, Czech ambassador to Kuwait, Martin Dvorak was summoned after expressing support online for Israel while it carried out airstrikes on Gaza. He later issued an apology over the post.
Kuwait maintains a consistent stance in opposition to normalisation with Israel. Last year after the Abraham Accords signed between Israel and Gulf states the UAE and Bahrain, 37 Kuwaiti lawmakers urged their government to condemn the move.
Yesterday, Hisham Qasim, a spokesman for the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas welcomed the new law, which "is an application of Kuwait's policies that seek to support Palestine and its just cause," he said in a statement. He also called on other countries to "follow the same approach" as Kuwait by restricting Israeli trade and maritime traffic.
