Kuwait has banned entry of all ships carrying goods to and from Israel, the Kuwaiti media reported Saturday.
According to the order by Kuwait's Works and State Communications and Information Technology Minister Dr. Rana al-Faris, commercial ships loaded with goods heading to and from Israel are prohibited from entering the Kuwaiti territorial waters.
"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," said Kuwaiti paper Al Anba on Sunday.
This bans goods being carried from Israel that are being brought to another country outside of Kuwait from entering Kuwaiti waters.
The Hamas terror group issued a statement, welcoming the decision and urging other countries to follow suit.
Kuwait passed a law in May prohibiting any form of contact with Israel and banned both Kuwaiti nationals and ex-pats from visiting the country. The bill also outlawed "expressions of sympathy" with Israel.
Kuwait boycotted a renewable energy conference in Abu Dhabi in January 2014 as it was attended by Israel. After former President Donald Trump said he believed Kuwait would be the next to normalize ties with Israel following the signing of the Abraham Accords, Kuwait said it would be the "last to normalize" ties.
“Our stance on Israel has not changed, following the UAE normalization agreement, and we will be the last to normalize relations,” the al-Qabas newspaper reported in August 2020, citing an unnamed senior official.