Riyadh:
Arab and Islamic leaders on Saturday condemned the “barbaric” actions of Israeli forces in Gaza, but refused to endorse punitive economic and political measures against the country over its war with Hamas. .
The results of a joint summit between the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in the Saudi capital highlighted regional divisions over the response to the war, as fears grow that the war will involve other countries.
The summit comes in response to Israeli air and ground attacks in the Gaza Strip that have killed more than 11,000 people, most of them civilians, many of them children, both inside and outside the Middle East, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. The event was held against a backdrop of widespread anger.
Israel has announced that it has launched an effort to annihilate Hamas following the group’s bloody attack on October 7th, which Israeli authorities say left about 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians, and about 240 hostages taken. It has been announced that
Saturday’s final declaration rejected Israel’s claims that it was acting in “self-defense” and issued a “definitive and binding resolution” from the UN Security Council to stop Israeli “aggression.” ” was requested to be adopted.
It also called for an end to arms sales to Israel and summarily dismissed a political solution to a future conflict that would have separated the Gaza Strip from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, had been considering establishing formal diplomatic relations with Israel before the war, but at a summit he said, “The occupation (Israel) is responsible for crimes committed against the Palestinian people.” ) I believe the authorities are responsible.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, on his first visit to Saudi Arabia since the two countries mended relations in March, said Islamic countries should designate the Israeli military as a “terrorist organization” because of its actions in Gaza.
Israel blames Hamas for the high death toll on using civilians as “human shields,” an accusation Hamas denies.
Regional classification
The Arab League and the 57-member OIC, which includes Iran, were originally scheduled to meet separately.
Arab diplomatic officials told AFP that the decision to merge the meetings was made after Arab League delegations failed to reach agreement on a final statement.
Some countries, including Algeria and Lebanon, have threatened to disrupt oil supplies to Israel and its allies in response to the devastation in the Gaza Strip, and some Arab League countries have established economic and diplomatic ties with Israel. Diplomats said they are proposing to sever ties.
But at least three countries rejected the proposal, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020, according to diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity.
In a statement released from Gaza, Hamas called on summit participants to expel the Israeli ambassador, establish a legal commission to try “Israeli war criminals” and establish a reconstruction fund for the Gaza Strip.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the summit would be dead without concrete punitive measures against Israel.
Assad, who was welcomed back into the Arab world this year after widening rifts over the civil war, said: “If we don’t have real means of applying pressure, all the steps we take and the speeches we make will be meaningless.” Ta.
He said Middle Eastern countries should not engage in any “political process” with Israel, including developing economic relations, until a permanent ceasefire is achieved.
Raba Saif Alam, a Middle East expert at the Cairo Center for Strategic Studies, said the lack of consensus was not a big surprise.
Allam said differences between America’s Arab allies and countries close to Iran “cannot be resolved overnight.”
Israel and its main backer, the United States, have so far rejected calls for a ceasefire, a position that drew heavy criticism on Saturday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said: “It is unfortunate that Western countries, which always talk about human rights and freedoms, are silent in the face of the ongoing genocide in Palestine.”
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan similarly denounced “double standards” in the world’s response to the war, saying Israel was being tolerated in violation of international law.
Iranian President in Riyadh
Raisi’s stay in Riyadh makes him the first Iranian president to set foot in Saudi Arabia since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attended the OIC meeting there in 2012.
In addition to speaking at the summit, he also held a face-to-face meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed, Saudi state media outlet X (formerly Twitter) reported.
Iran supports Hamas, as well as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, putting Hamas at the center of concerns about the war escalating.
The conflict has already seen increased cross-border exchanges between the Israeli military and Hezbollah, with the Houthis claiming responsibility for a ballistic missile the rebels said targeted southern Israel.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)