Arab-Islamic Summit Rejects Justifying Gaza War As Self-Defence
An 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 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 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.
Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra said that without consensus among the summit attendees, its outcomes are useless.
“People do understand that the Israelis don’t really care about what is happening at this summit between the OIC and Arab League leaders. When you look at the communique you get a sense that the Arab and Muslim leaders do not have a mechanism to push a ceasefire and humanitarian corridor,” Ahelbarra said.
“This summit was just for the sake of a semblance of unity … in the Arab and Muslim world. It’s a watered-down statement. Not all Arab leaders decided to attend this summit because of the huge differences and divisions among the key players of the summit. That’s why they put this vaguely worded statement for public consumption,” he added.
In 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.
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 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.
Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani questioned for how long the international community will treat Israel as if it is above international law.
“The international world remains immune in front of all these scenes. Who could have imagined that hospitals could be publicly shelled in the 21st century?” he asked.
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the President of Egypt, emphasised that the policy of “collective punishment” by killing, siege and forcible transfer, is unacceptable.
“This cannot be interpreted as self-defence and must be stopped immediately”.
ALJAZEERA
