Muslim and Arab leaders have gathered in Saudi Arabia for an extraordinary Islamic-Arab summit to discuss the dire situation in the besieged Gaza Strip amid Israel’s savagery against the Palestinians.
Leaders from Iran, Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and other countries attended the summit in Riyadh on Saturday.
In his opening speech, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reiterated the kingdom’s call for an “immediate cessation” of military operations in Gaza, holding Israel responsible for “crimes” against civilians in the blockaded territory.
“This is a humanitarian catastrophe that has proved the failure of the international community and the UN Security Council to put an end to Israel’s gross violations of international humanitarian laws and prove the dual standards adopted by the world,” the Saudi crown prince said.
Bin Salman further called for unified efforts to end the siege on Gaza and deliver aid, adding that the “only solution” to achieve stability in the region is through “ending occupation and settlement [policies].”
“Israel’s flagrant violations of international laws must be stopped,” he said.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also noted that in addition to Gaza, Israel has intensified its raids in the occupied West Bank.
He urged the US administration to put an end to “Israel’s aggression, occupation, violation and desecration” of Palestine’s holy sites.”
“No military and security solutions are acceptable as they have all failed. We categorically reject any efforts to displace our people from Gaza or the West Bank,” Abbas said.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also emphasized that the policy of “collective punishment” by killing, siege, and forcible transfer is unacceptable.
“This cannot be interpreted as self-defense and must be stopped immediately,” Sisi said, calling for “an immediate sustainable ceasefire in Gaza.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for an international peace conference to find a permanent solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestinians.
“What we need in Gaza is not pauses for a couple of hours, rather we need a permanent ceasefire,” he said.
The Turkish president also noted, “it is a shame that Western countries, which always talk about human rights and freedoms, remain silent in the face of the ongoing massacres in Palestine.”
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim also expressed hope that a humanitarian truce would be reached soon. “For how long will the international community treat Israel as if it is above international law,” he said.
President Bashar al-Assad of Syria said a lack of concrete punitive measures against Israel would render the summit toothless. “If we do not have real tools for pressure, then any step we take or speech we give will have no meaning.”
Assad further stated that no country in the region should engage in any “political process” with Israel given the ongoing violence in Gaza, until a lasting ceasefire is reached.
Jordan’s King Abdullah strongly condemned Israel’s complete blockade of Gaza, saying Amman rejects “the mentality that wants to turn the Gaza Strip into an unviable place.”
“The injustice inflicted on our Palestinian brothers is proof of the failure of the international community to do justice to them and guarantee their rights to dignity, self-determination, and the establishment of their state,” he said.
The extraordinary joint summit comes as Israel is continuing its deadly bombing campaign in Gaza despite growing calls to end the regime’s atrocities.
Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories in response to the occupying regime’s intensified crimes against the Palestinian people.
The regime has killed over 11,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
