The Extraordinary Arab-Islamic Summit kicks off in Riyadh to discuss the situation in Gaza Strip

The Extraordinary Arab-Islamic Summit kicked off on Saturday in Riyadh with the participation of President Bashar Al-Assad and Arab and Islamic leaders. The summit aims at discussing the situation in Gaza Strip and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories.

In an opening speech, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman affirmed his country’s categorical rejection of the barbaric war our brothers in Palestine are facing, in which thousands have been killed and hospitals and infrastructure have been destroyed.

For his part, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that the people in Gaza feel that the world has abandoned them and they want it to listen to the cries of children and work to stop the incessant shooting.

He added that the situation in Al-Shifa Medical Complex is very dangerous and that only a third of the health facilities are currently working in Gaza, stressing that humanitarian aid must be brought into Gaza immediately and UNRWA must get enough funding to continue carrying out its role in Gaza.

The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the parties that protect the occupation bear full responsibility for every drop of blood that was shed in Palestine, calling on the international community, especially the United States, to stop the aggression and work to end the Israeli occupation.

He also called on the international Security Council to assume its responsibility in stopping the Israeli aggression on Gaza, provide the basic needs of the Palestinian people, and prevent their forced displacement.

He affirmed the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their adherence to their land and legitimate rights, reiterating rejection of all the occupation’s schemes.

Abbas urged the Security Council to approve the State of Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations and to provide protection for the Palestinian people.

Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid said that what the occupation is committing in Gaza embodies its racist policy which is based on displacement, seizure of Palestinian lands and Judaization. He called on the international community to adopt a decisive stance that condemns the systematic aggression against Gaza and works to stop this aggression immediately and allows humanitarian aid convoys to enter the Palestinian territories immediately and without restrictions.

For his part, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt called on the international community to conduct an international investigation into all the violations committed in Gaza and called for stopping all Israeli practices that aim at displacing the Palestinians from Gaza to any place inside or outside their land.

Al-Sisi pointed out that Egypt has repeatedly warned against the consequences of unilateral policies, and it is now warning that the failure to stop the war in Gaza threatens with the expansion of military confrontations in the region.

King Abdullah II of Jordan said that the people of Gaza are facing killing and destruction in a savage war that must be stopped immediately, adding that the injustice to which the Palestinian people are being exposed did not begin a month ago, rather, it goes back to more than seven decades, and this is evidence of the failure of the international community to do justice to them and establish their independent state on the June 4, 1967 lines, with Al-Quds (Jerusalem) as its capital.

President of Indonesia Joko Widodo said that “Israel” is committing crimes against the Palestinians  and these crimes must be stopped, pointing out that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation must move in all paths to help hold “Israel” accountable for its crimes.

The Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi stressed that the Israeli occupation is committing the most heinous crimes in Gaza throughout history and that today, Palestine is the standard that defines Islamic and human dignity.

“Today is the day of action, the historic day for defending Al-Aqsa Mosque and the day for the struggle of truth against falsehood, and the false Zionist entity, Raisi clarified.

The Iranian president went on to say that most of the victims of the Zionist aggression are women and children and that killing people and bombing hospitals are part of Israel’s crimes which continue due to the protection provided by the United States to this entity at the Security Council. He stressed the need to stop the Zionist aggression on Gaza Strip and to open humanitarian corridors to bring aid into the Strip.

He stressed that the land of Gaza Strip belongs to the Palestinians and that the occupation should leave it and lift the siege it is imposing on the Strip.

The Crown Prince of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, for his part, said that the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip are being subjected collective punishment by the Israeli occupation in a flagrant violation of the international law, which exposes the double standards of the international community.

Prime Minister of Lebanon’s caretaker government Najib Mikati called for solidarity and joint action to save Palestine and Gaza from the catastrophic situation.

Mikati described the events currently taking place in South Lebanon as an echo of the tragic events in Gaza Strip, and is a result of the escalation of Israeli attacks and violations of international resolutions.

President of Mauritania Mohamed Ould Ghazouani stressed the importance of supporting the Palestinian people and enabling them to exercise their right to self-determination and establish their independent state, and to preserve the historical and Islamic identity of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the holy places there.

Head of the Presidency Council of Libya Mohamed Yunus al-Menfi said that the summit embodies the collective commitment towards Palestine, as a homeland, people and sanctuaries, stressing that these countries are facing a real challenge not to allow the Israeli occupation to persist in committing crimes of genocide, starvation, ethnic cleansing, and in attacking the Palestinian holy shrines.

Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Bahrain Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa said that ending the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza Strip depends on an immediate ceasefire, calling for providing protection to the Palestinian people and stressing Bahrain’s support for the Palestinian people’s legitimate rights.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi regretted  the stances of some countries, which defend international law and apply it in other parts of the world while they don’t condemn Israel’s violations of the same international law concerning Palestine.

Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Al-Gheit pointed out that the Israeli occupation is trying to displace the people of Gaza Strip, and it is continuing its crimes of ethnic cleansing against them in front of the entire world, and some of the Israeli ministers have threatened to strike Gaza with a nuclear bomb.

For his part, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Hussein Ibrahim Taha said that the Israeli occupation is committing crimes against humanity and crimes of forced displacement against the Palestinian people in Gaza, stressing that this must be stopped. He indicated that the Arab and Islamic summit confirms participating countries’ absolute support for the Palestinian people and confirms their commitment to defending the Palestinian cause.

Hamda Mustafa