Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries on Saturday (Nov 11), called for an immediate end to the ongoing war in Gaza at a joint summit in Riyadh.
The countries also condemned Israel for its counter-offensive and declared that Tel Aviv bears responsibility for “crimes” against Palestinians.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, gathered Arab and Muslim leaders for the summit as the kingdom exercised its impact to push the United States and Israel for an end to the conflict in war-torn Gaza.
Leaders including Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi attended the summit.
‘Condemn war against our brothers in Palestine’, says Prince Mohammed
Prince Mohammed said the kingdom substantiates its “condemnation and categorical rejection of this barbaric war against our brothers in Palestine”.
“We are facing a humanitarian catastrophe that proves the failure of the Security Council and the international community to put an end to the flagrant Israeli violations of international laws,” he said in an address to the summit.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the Palestinians were facing a “genocidal war” further calling on the US to end Israeli “aggression”.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi hails Hamas
Voicing support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas for launching unprecedented attacks against Israel, Raisi urged Islamic countries to impose oil and goods sanctions on Tel Aviv.
“There is no other way but to resist Israel, we kiss the hands of Hamas for its resistance against Israel,” he said in his address.
On his first visit to Saudi Arabia, after the two countries agreed to mend ties in March, Raisi said Islamic nations should designate the Israeli army a “terrorist organisation” for its conduct in Gaza.
The two leaders, Prince Mohammed bin and Raisi also held their first meeting on the sidelines of the Joint Arab Islamic Summit.
The official Saudi Press Agency, taking to its X account, shared a picture of the two leaders saying, “HRH the #Crown_Prince meets with the president of the Islamic Republic of #Iran on the sidelines of the Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit.
#SPAGOV.”
Countries reject Israel’s ‘self-defence’ claim
The final declaration rebuffed Israeli claims that dubbed its counter-offensive an act of “self-defence”, calling the United Nations Security Council to adopt “a decisive and binding resolution” to halt Israel’s “aggression”.
It also disregarded out of hand any future political resolution to the war that would keep Gaza separate from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
(With inputs from agencies)
