SHAFAQNA- Arab-Islamic summit hosted by Saudi Arabia called for an end to the war in Gaza and rejected justifying Israel’s actions against Palestinians as self-defence.
The summit on Saturday (11 Nov. 2023) condemned “Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, war crimes and barbaric and inhumane massacres by the occupation government”, a final communique said.
It also called for an end to the siege on Gaza, allowing humanitarian aid into the enclave and halting arms exports to Israel, following the meeting in Riyadh.
The leaders demanded that the UN’s Security Council adopt “a decisive and binding resolution” to halt Israel’s “aggression” in Gaza.
Originally, only the 22 members of the Arab League were expected to participate, but the meeting was later expanded to include the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a wider association of 57 mostly Muslim-majority states to which the Arab League countries belong.
Dozens of leaders including Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Syrian President Bashar Assad, who was welcomed back into the Arab League earlier this year, attended the meeting.
Saudi Crown Prince: Failure of international community & UNSC to put an end to Israel’s gross violations
Delivering the opening remarks, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) called for an immediate cessation of military operations in Gaza and the release of all captives and prisoners.
“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,” he said.
“We are certain the only cause for peace is the end of the Israeli occupation and illegal settlements, and restoration of the established rights of the Palestinian people and the establishment of the state on 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” MBS added.
Qatari Emir condemns silence on Gaza
“What is taking place in Gaza is a real threat at all levels. These are unprecedented events. How come the bombardment of hospitals becomes an ordinary attack under the false allegations that there are tunnels and military installations underneath?” said the emir at the Riyadh summit.
“Our eyes are frozen and hearts are broken to see all these atrocities. All of this is unprecedented,” he continued.
“Many people and states worldwide who have lectured in the past on the need to comply with international law and human values are remaining silent amid all these atrocities.
“The international world remains immune in front of all these scenes. Who could have imagined that hospitals could be publicly shelled in the 20th century?” he said.
Iranian President called for complete lifting of blockade on Gaza
Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi has said that the Gaza issue is a confrontation between the axis of honour and the axis of evil and introduced the US government as the main accomplice to Israel crimes against the oppressed people of Gaza.
Calling the atrocities of the usurping Israel regime in recent weeks a historical shame for morality, law and humanity, Raisi stressed the main role of the US in such crimes, as well as the reminder of the responsibility of the Arab and Islamic countries towards the issue of Palestine and the oppressed people of Gaza.
“We call for the complete lifting of the blockade on Gaza and the unrestricted reopening of the Rafah crossing. We must immediately demand the withdrawal of Israel regime from Gaza,” the president of Iran said.
President of Egypt called for an immediate sustainable ceasefire in Gaza
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the president of Egypt, emphasised that the policy of “collective punishment” by killing, siege and forcible transfer are unacceptable.
“This cannot be interpreted as self-defence and must be stopped immediately,” he said, and called for “an immediate sustainable ceasefire in Gaza”.
Turkish President: What is urgent in Gaza is not pauses for a few hours, rather we need a permanent ceasefire
Turkish President Recep Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Israel was taking revenge on Gazan babies, children and women, as he renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire.
“What is urgent in Gaza is not pauses for a few hours, rather we need a permanent ceasefire,” he added. “We cannot put Hamas resisters defending their homeland in the same category as the occupiers.”
Palestinian President called on USA’s administration to put an end to Israel’s aggression
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas highlighted that besides Gaza, Israeli forces’ raids in the occupied West Bank have also escalated and called on the United States administration to put an end to “Israel’s aggression, the occupation, violation and desecration of our 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 added.
Syrian President: More Arab submission results in more Israel massacres
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad affirmed during the joint Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that “what the valiant Palestinian Resistance imposed was a new reality in the region.”
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told the leaders of the Arab and Islamic world that the failed peace process sought after with the Arab world only resulted in more aggressiveness to be propagated by the “Israeli entity”, as he described it, the situation in Palestine has thus become more miserable.
The Al-Araby Al-Jadeed report said that four “influential countries” in the Arab League had prevented the adoption of proposals that carry concrete measures against Israel, while they proposed more vague non-committal clauses.
The divisive clauses are believed to have included prohibiting the use of USA and other military bases in Arab countries to supply Israel with weapons and ammunition; freezing Arab diplomatic, economic, security, and military relations with Israel; and threats to leverage oil and Arab economic capabilities to apply pressure and halt the ongoing aggression.
The four countries who voted against and those who abstained were not disclosed.
Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra said that without consensus among the summit attendees, its outcomes are useless.
There was a notable lack of talk and planning when it came to what would happen to Gaza after the war from a security perspective, and disagreement on specifics when it came to Palestinian statehood.
We have not reached a threshold moment in the Muslim world and Arab world where leaders will come together and say, “This is a turning point and we will have to take a strong stance on Israel.”
As for the summit’s calls for ceasefire and aid in Gaza, this will be extremely difficult for the leaders present in Riyadh to implement.
Source: reuter, Aljazeera, IRNA, almayadeen, newarab