The leaders of Arab and Muslim countries gathered in Riyadh condemned this Saturday the “barbaric” actions of the Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, but refrained from announcing punitive economic and political measures against Israel, which is waging war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The results of the joint summit of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) highlighted regional differences over how to respond to the conflict, and there were fears of a conflagration in the region.
They are calling for a “binding” UN resolution
The summit took place against a backdrop of anger in the Middle East and beyond over the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip, carried out in retaliation for Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israeli soil on October 7.
According to official Israeli figures, this attack claimed around 1,200 lives on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, while the Gaza bombings killed more than 11,000 people, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
The summit’s final communiqué rejected Israel’s arguments that it had acted in “self-defense” and called for the UN Security Council to adopt a “binding” resolution to end Israeli “aggression.”
“Ending the occupation, siege and colonization”
He also rejected any future political solution to the conflict that would separate the Gaza Strip from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Saudi Arabia “holds the (Israeli) occupation authorities responsible for the crimes against the Palestinian people,” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also said at the opening of the summit.
“We are sure that the only way to ensure security, peace and stability in the region is to end the occupation, siege and colonization,” he added.
A meeting between Iran and Saudi Arabia
Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi, visiting Saudi Arabia for the first time since the two countries’ rapprochement, called on Islamic countries to classify the Israeli army as a “terrorist organization.”
He also met the Saudi prince, the first contact at this level since diplomatic relations between the two countries were restored in March thanks to Chinese mediation.
According to Arab diplomats, Algeria and Lebanon in particular have proposed to certain countries to break off economic and diplomatic relations with Israel and to stop oil supplies to that country and its allies. However, at least three countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020, rejected this proposal.
Calls for a “ceasefire” were rejected
International humanitarian organizations are loudly calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, where there is a shortage of drinking water and medicine.
Israel and its main ally the United States have so far rejected calls for a ceasefire.
“It is shameful that Western countries, which always talk about human rights and freedoms, remain silent in the face of the ongoing massacres in Palestine,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Hamas calls for the expulsion of all Israeli ambassadors
Before the final communiqué was released, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that the lack of punitive measures against Israel would make the summit “meaningless.”
In its speech at the summit, Hamas called in a press release for the “expulsion” of all Israeli ambassadors “from Arab and Muslim countries and the recall of all ambassadors from these countries.”
Iran supports Hamas, but also the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, which raise fears that the conflict will expand.
There are daily exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah on the Israel-Lebanese border, while the Houthis claim several drone and rocket attacks against southern Israel.