Gaza: A high-level Bahraini delegation will arrive in Gaza today to open two UNRWA schools, the enclave’s Hamas rulers said on Tuesday, denying it would be led by one of the princes.
“A high-level Bahraini delegation will visit Gaza on Thursday headed by Mustafa Al Syed, Secretary-General of the Bahraini Royal Charity Organisation (RCO),” said a statement issued by Taher Al Nunu, spokesman for the Gaza government.
The statement was issued shortly after two separate sources - one close to the Hamas government and another from the UN refugee agency - said the delegation would be led Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, a son of the Bahraini king.
Government sources in Manama also denied claims that Shaikh Hamad would visit Gaza, saying the delegation had already set off under the leadership of Syed.
“There was never any question about Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad visiting Gaza,” a Bahraini government source told AFP.
He said it was the fourth time the charity had visited Gaza and said the delegation would deliver humanitarian aid and inaugurate several schools there.
Last week, Qatari Emir Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani visited Gaza in the first visit by a head of state since Hamas seized the territory in 2007, ousting forces loyal to the Palestinian Authority of president Mahmoud Abbas.
It was something of a diplomatic coup for Hamas, which has been shunned by international dignitaries over the past five years.
Government spokesman Taher Al Nunu told AFP a number of other “top-level Arab officials” were expected to visit Gaza soon and meet Haniya, but he did not give further details.
Four Bahraini activists took part in a six-ship flotilla that tried to breach Israel’s blockade on Gaza in May 2010, which ended in bloodshed when Israeli troops stormed the lead ship, killing nine Turks.
In January 2009, Bahrain set up a national committee for the support of the Palestinian people, which falls under the remit of the RCO.
