Saudi Arabia, Qatar: Saudi Arabia and Qatar to reopen borders from Jan. 4

Event

Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Ahmad Nasser Al-Sabah has announced that Saudi Arabia will reopen its airspace, as well as land and sea borders, to Qatar beginning the evening of Jan. 4. The reopening of borders comes ahead of the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit that will be held in Saudi Arabia Jan. 5.

Context

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Egypt imposed a blockade and severed all diplomatic, trade, and travel ties with Qatar in the summer of 2017 after accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism. Qatar denied the accusations and refused a list of 13 demands, which included requests to close the Al Jazeera news channel and cut ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and with Iran.

The reopening of borders comes following several Gulf states' normalization of ties with Israel, which have been brokered by the US government. Kuwait and the US have since been engaged in efforts to mediate a solution to the political dispute. Several reports indicate that an agreement ending the dispute between Saudi Arabia and its allies and Qatar will be signed at the GCC summit on Jan. 5.