by Alberto Galvi –
Saudi Arabia hosted a summit of Arab countries to discuss Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip. At the opening of the Riyadh summit, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called for an end to hostilities. Also among the leaders was Ebrahim Raisi, president of Iran and the first Iranian leader to visit Saudi Arabia in 11 years.
Mohammed bin Salman also called for an end to the siege of Gaza, for humanitarian aid to enter the enclave and for a ban on arms exports to Israel. Arab leaders have called on the UN Security Council to adopt a decisive and binding resolution to stop Israel’s aggression in Gaza.
The meeting was initially planned with the participation of only the 22 members of the Arab League, but was later expanded to include the OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation), a larger association of 57 mostly Muslim-majority states.
Turkish President Erdogan has renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire. The joint summit came amid intense diplomatic activity that saw the leaders of Russia, Iran, Turkey and Pakistan meet in Astana for talks that included the situation in Gaza.
Palestinian Authority President Abbas noted that in addition to targeting Gaza, raids by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank have sharply increased, and called on the United States to end Israeli aggression.
The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, questioned how long the international community will treat Israel above international law.
The joint meeting of the Arab League and OIC was held in response to the exceptional circumstances unfolding in the Gaza Strip. The OIC includes member states from across the Islamic world, including neighbors Egypt and Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. However, not all Arab leaders decided to participate in the summit due to the enormous differences and divisions between the main actors.
Earlier this year the Arab League readmitted Bashar al-Assad’s Syria after a decade of civil war in the country.
