Saudi Arabia’s MBS calls for an immediate end to Israel’s war in Gaza and Lebanon | News on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman demanded that Israel immediately end its military aggression in Gaza and Lebanon as he opened a summit of Arab and Muslim leaders in Riyadh.

In an address to the joint summit of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Monday, the crown prince, also known as MBS, condemned the “massacre of the Palestinian and Lebanese people.”

He called on Israel to “refrain from any further aggression” and urged countries around the world to recognize Palestinian statehood.

Ahmed Aboul Gheit, secretary general of the Arab League, also joined MBS in condemning Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, saying that “words cannot express the suffering of the Palestinian people.”

“Israel’s actions against the Palestinian people undermine efforts to achieve lasting peace. Only with justice can we create lasting peace,” said Aboul Gheit.

“The world must not close its eyes to Israeli violence,” he emphasized.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said at the summit that his country was suffering an “unprecedented” crisis that threatened its existence as Israel waged war against Hezbollah.

“Lebanon is experiencing an unprecedented historical and existential crisis that threatens its present and future,” he said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian did not attend the meeting due to urgent “executive matters.”

But Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref condemned Israel’s killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders as “organized terrorism” in his remarks before the summit.

“The operations, designed with the misleading phrase ‘targeted killing’ and killing Palestinian elites and leaders of other countries in the region individually or en masse, are nothing but lawlessness and organized terrorism,” he said.

The summit was also attended by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu.

In the final statement on Monday, the assembled leaders said they “strongly condemn” the actions of the Israeli army “in connection with the crime of genocide… particularly in the northern Gaza Strip in recent weeks,” citing torture, executions, disappearances and ” ethnic cleansing.”

The statement also condemned attempts to consolidate Israel’s influence over Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, calling it the “eternal capital” of the Palestinian territories and calling for the unification of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem under one Palestinian-dominated state.

“We reaffirm the full sovereignty of the State of Palestine over the occupied East [Jerusalem]the eternal capital of Palestine, and reject any Israeli decisions or actions aimed at Judaizing the city and entrenching its colonial occupation of the city,” the summit’s final declaration said.

The summit comes a year after a similar meeting in Riyadh of the Cairo-based Arab League and the Jeddah-based OIC, where leaders condemned Israeli actions in Gaza as “barbaric.”

But leaders were unable to agree on action against Israel, despite calls to cut economic and diplomatic ties with the country or cut off its oil supplies.

The 57 members of the OIC and the 22 members of the Arab League include countries that recognize Israel and those that strongly oppose its regional integration.

Last week’s election of Donald Trump as U.S. president – and his upcoming second term in the White House – is likely to be on the minds of leaders in Riyadh, said Anna Jacobs, senior Gulf analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank.

“This summit is very much an opportunity for regional leaders to signal to the new Trump administration what they want in terms of US engagement,” she told AFP.

“The message will likely be one of dialogue, de-escalation and calling for Israeli military campaigns in the region.”

Israel’s war on Gaza began after an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023 that killed more than 1,100 people. Since then, Israel has killed more than 43,600 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them civilians.

Israel has also killed more than 3,100 people in Lebanon since October 7 last year while fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah.