RIYADH: On Saturday, Arab leaders and Iran’s president met in the capital of Saudi Arabia for a summit meeting that was meant to stress the need for an end to the fighting in Gaza before it spreads to other countries.
The Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are meeting quickly because of the attacks on October 7 by Hamas militants, which killed about 1,200 people, mostly citizens, and held 239 hostage.
Then, Israel launched an air and ground attack that killed more than 11,000 people, mostly civilians and many of them children, according to the health ministry, which is run by Hamas.
There are calls for a truce from aid groups, which say that the lack of food, water, and medicine in Gaza is a “humanitarian catastrophe.”
The Arab League and the OIC were supposed to meet separately at first. However, Arab diplomats told AFP that the talks were merged because Arab League delegations could not agree on a final statement.
Diplomats say that in response to the destruction in Gaza, some countries, like Algeria and Lebanon, have suggested cutting off oil supplies to Israel and its supporters and ending economic and diplomatic ties between some Arab League countries and Israel.
According to diplomats who spoke on the condition of anonymity, at least three countries turned down the plan. These included the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, whose relations with Israel were normalised in 2020.
Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian group, said before the meeting that it did not “expect anything” to come out of it and blamed Arab leaders for the delay.
“We are not putting our hopes on these kinds of meetings because we have seen how they fail for many years,” the group’s deputy secretary-general, Mohammad al-Hindi, told reporters in Beirut.
“The fact that this conference will be held after 35 days (of war) is an indication of its outcomes.”
“Confirms that it holds the occupation (Israeli) authorities responsible for the crimes committed against the Palestinian people,” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is the de facto leader of the Gulf kingdom and is also the host, said as the summit started on Saturday.
He said, “We are sure that the only way to guarantee security, peace, and stability in the region is to end the occupation, the siege, and the settlements.” He was talking about what Israel does in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
So far, Israel and its main ally, the US, have turned down calls for a ceasefire. This stance was supposed to get a lot of negative feedback on Saturday.
“This is not just about Israel-Palestine — this is about what is facilitating Israel to do this, which is basically the United States and the West,” stated Saudi expert Aziz Alghashian.
Riyadh Raisi
In Riyadh, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were seen with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani (2ndR). Picture: AFP
In Riyadh, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were seen with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani (2ndR). Picture: AFP
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Riyadh on Saturday for the meeting. It was his first trip to Saudi Arabia since March, when the two countries agreed to heal their ties.
Raisi is the first president of Iran to visit Saudi Arabia since 2012, when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went to the country for an OIC meeting.
Iran backs Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Huthi fighters in Yemen. This puts Iran at the centre of worries that the war could get worse.
The Israeli army and Hezbollah have already been fighting across the border, and the Huthis have claimed credit for “ballistic missiles” that the rebels said were aimed at southern Israel.
Because it has close ties with the United States and was thinking about repairing relations with Israel before the war, analysts say Saudi Arabia feels like it could be attacked.
Friday was the first time Prince Mohammed spoke out publicly about the war. He said that the Israeli occupation forces were “continually violating international humanitarian law.” Riyadh has said similar things many times.
“The Saudis are hoping that the fact that they have a channel to the Iranians and the fact that they haven’t normalised yet gives them some protection,” said Kim Ghattas, author of a book about the rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The group was put together by the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, D.C.
And, she said, “the Iranians are hoping that the fact that they’re in touch with the Saudis and maintaining that channel, that it gives them some protection too.”
Anwaarul Haq Kakar, who is acting as prime minister, goes to the meeting.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar went to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on Friday to speak for Pakistan at an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) about the situation in Gaza.
After the prime minister arrived at King Khalid International Airport earlier in the day, Deputy Governor Riyadh Prince Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz met him. There was also Pakistan’s minister, Ahmed Farooq, as well as top Saudi and Pakistani officials.
The prime minister will be in Riyadh for three days on official business. During that time, he will attend an emergency meeting where the Israeli attacks on Gaza will be discussed.
