Arab and Muslim leaders condemned “shocking” Israeli crimes in war-torn Gaza on Monday and demanded that Israel withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories as a prerequisite for regional peace.
A summit meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh gave the 57 countries of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation a chance to speak with one voice on the turmoil that has engulfed the region more than a year into the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
This came less than a week after Donald Trump, Israel’s top military supporter, won a second term as president of the United States.
The summit’s concluding statement stated that “A just and comprehensive peace in the region… cannot be achieved without ending the Israeli occupation of all occupied Arab territories up to the June 4, 1967 border,” including the occupied West Bank. and referring to East Jerusalem as well as Gaza and the Golan Heights.
The statement cited UN resolutions calling on Israel to withdraw from these areas, and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, in which Arab countries agreed to support Israel in exchange for a two-state accord with the Palestinians along the lines of the 1967 Generalized relations were offered.
The statement said the international community should “initiate a plan with specific steps and timelines under international sponsorship” to make a sovereign Palestinian state a reality.
Hamas later urged Arab and Muslim countries to back up those promises with action.
“The establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital will require more immediate efforts and practical solutions to force (Israel) to stop its aggression and genocide against our people,” Hamas said in a statement. “
The hard-right Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains opposed to Palestinian statehood and Israel’s new Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, dismissed the possibility as not being “realistic”.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich later Monday vowed to push for annexation of parts of the West Bank in 2025.
The Riyadh summit reiterated regional leaders’ call for Palestinian territories – including Gaza, which is separated from the West Bank by Israeli territory – to be grouped together in a future state.
The leaders also condemned “horrible and shocking crimes” by Israel’s military and said they occurred “in the context of the crime of genocide.”
The war began with Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 last year, resulting in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 43,600 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which the United Nations considers credible.
call for ceasefire
The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, which like Hamas is backed by Iran, began firing on Israel after the October 7 attack, in alleged support of its Palestinian ally.
Regular cross-border exchanges increased in late September. Israel stepped up its airstrikes and later sent ground troops into southern Lebanon.
Addressing Monday’s summit, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the world must “immediately stop Israeli actions against our brothers in Palestine and Lebanon” and condemned Israel’s campaign in Gaza as “genocide.” of.
The Gulf kingdom’s de facto ruler Prince Mohammed also called on Israel not to attack Iran, highlighting the improvement in relations between Riyadh and its regional rival Tehran.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati warned that his country was facing an “existential” crisis and attacked countries that interfere in its internal affairs – a veiled attack on Iran.
A ‘signal’ for Trump
Anna Jacobs, senior Gulf analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank, said last week Trump’s election to a second term in the White House was likely on the minds of leaders.
“This summit is an opportunity for regional leaders to signal to the incoming Trump administration what they want in terms of U.S. engagement,” he said.
Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Arif said in his remarks that “the world is waiting for Trump to immediately stop the war against the innocent people of Gaza and Lebanon”.
The final statement included a call to ban arms exports and transfers to Israel.
Despite criticism of the impact of Israel’s military campaign on Gaza civilians, outgoing US President Joe Biden has ensured that Washington remains Israel’s most important military supporter during the more than a year-long war.
In his first term, Trump defied international consensus with a number of moves that were praised by the Israeli government but condemned by the Palestinians.
He recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moved the US Embassy there and supported Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
