Crown Prince MBS reaffirms support to overcome humanitarian impact of ongoing Israeli aggression at Arab League summit
\n RIYADH
\nSaudi Arabia called for immediate ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon at a joint Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit that will renew calls for a Palestinian state on Monday.
\nArab and Muslim leaders gathered in Riyadh, more than a year into the Israel-Hamas war and regional escalation, in what is seen as a chance to send a message to US president-elect Donald Trump.
\nOpening the summit, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the international community must \u201cimmediately halt the Israeli actions against our brothers in Palestine and Lebanon\u201d, condemning Israel\u2019s campaign in Gaza as \u201cgenocide\u201d.
\n\u201c(Saudi Arabia) affirms its support for the brothers in Palestine and Lebanon to overcome the disastrous humanitarian consequences of the ongoing Israeli aggression,\u201d he said.
\nA draft resolution for the summit stresses \u201cfirm support\u201d for \u201cnational rights\u201d for the Palestinian people, \u201cforemost among which is their right to freedom and to an independent, sovereign state\u201d.
\nJust hours earlier, newly appointed Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said it was not \u201crealistic\u201d to establish a Palestinian state, dismissing it as a \u201cHamas state\u201d. \u201cI don\u2019t think this position is realistic today and we must be realistic,\u201d Saar said in response to a question during an appearance in Jerusalem.
\nThe Saudi foreign ministry announced plans for the summit in late October during a meeting, also in Riyadh, of a new \u201cinternational alliance\u201d to press for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
\nIt comes one year after a similar gathering in Riyadh of the Cairo-based Arab League and the Jeddah-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation during which leaders condemned Israeli forces\u2019 actions in Gaza as \u201cbarbaric\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2018Calling out\u2019 Israel
\nThis time around, Trump\u2019s election last week for a second term in the White House is likely to be on leaders\u2019 minds, said Anna Jacobs, senior Gulf analyst for the International Crisis Group think tank.
\n\u201cThis summit is very much an opportunity for regional leaders to signal to the incoming Trump administration what they want in terms of US engagement,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cThe message will likely be one of dialogue, de-escalation and calling out Israeli military campaigns in the region.\u201d
\nThe war in Gaza began with Hamas\u2019s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year, which resulted in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
\nIsrael\u2019s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 43,600 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run territory\u2019s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
\nLebanon-based Hezbollah, which like Hamas is backed by Iran, began firing on Israel after the October 7 attack. The regular cross-border exchanges escalated in late September when Israel intensified its air strikes and sent ground troops into southern Lebanon.
\nDespite criticism of the impact Israel\u2019s military campaign has had on Gaza civilians, outgoing US President Joe Biden ensured that Washington remained Israel\u2019s most important military backer during more than a year of fighting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Crown Prince MBS reaffirms support to overcome humanitarian impact of ongoing Israeli aggression at Arab League summit RIYADH Saudi Arabia called for immediate ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon at a joint Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit that will renew calls for a Palestinian state on Monday. Arab and Muslim leaders gathered in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443057,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-443037","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n