Saudi-hosted summit says Mideast peace requires end to Israeli occupation

W460

Arab and Muslim leaders have demanded that Israel withdraw from occupied Palestinian territories as a precondition for regional peace, while denouncing "shocking" Israeli crimes in war-ravaged Gaza.

A summit meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday gave the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's 57 nations a chance to speak with one voice on turmoil engulfing the region, more than a year into the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

It came less than a week after Donald Trump secured a second term as president of the United States, Israel's top military backer.

The summit's closing statement said that "a just and comprehensive peace in the region... cannot be achieved without ending the Israeli occupation of all occupied Arab territories to the line of June 4, 1967," referring to the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem as well as Gaza and the Golan Heights.

The statement mentioned U.N. resolutions which have called on Israel to withdraw from these areas, and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, in which Arab nations offered Israel normalized ties in return for a two-state agreement with the Palestinians along the 1967 lines.

The international community should "launch a plan with specific steps and timing under international sponsorship" to make a sovereign Palestinian state a reality, the statement said.

Hamas later urged Arab and Muslim nations to back up those pledges with action.

"The establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital would require more immediate efforts and practical solutions to force (Israel) to stop its aggression and genocide against our people," Hamas said in a statement.

The hard-right Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains opposed to Palestinian statehood and Israel's new foreign minister, Gideon Saar, dismissed the prospect as not "realistic".

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich later Monday vowed to push for annexation of parts of the West Bank in 2025.

The Riyadh summit reiterated regional leaders' call for Palestinian territories -- including Gaza, which is separated from the West Bank by Israeli territory -- to be grouped together in a future state.

The leaders also condemned "horrific and shocking crimes" by Israel's army, saying they occurred "in the context of the crime of genocide".

- Ceasefire call -

Hezbollah, which like Hamas is backed by Iran, began firing on Israel after the October 7 attack, in stated support of its Palestinian ally.

The regular cross-border exchanges escalated in late September. Israel has intensified its air strikes and later sent ground troops into southern Lebanon.

Addressing Monday's summit, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the world must "immediately halt the Israeli actions against our brothers in Palestine and Lebanon" and condemned Israel's campaign in Gaza as "genocide".

Prince Mohammed, the Gulf kingdom's de facto ruler, also called on Israel not to attack Iran, highlighting improving ties between Riyadh and its regional rival Tehran.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati warned that his country was suffering an "existential" crisis and hit out at countries meddling in its internal affairs -- a thinly veiled swipe at Iran.

- A 'signal' to Trump -

Trump's election last week for a second term in the White House was likely on leaders' minds, said Anna Jacobs, senior Gulf analyst for the International Crisis Group think tank.

"This summit is very much an opportunity for regional leaders to signal to the incoming Trump administration what they want in terms of US engagement," she said.

Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said in his remarks that "the world is waiting" for Trump "to immediately stop the war against the innocent people of Gaza and Lebanon".

The final statement included a call for a ban on the export and transfer of weapons to Israel.

Despite criticism of the impact Israel's military campaign has had on Gaza civilians, outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden has ensured that Washington remains Israel's most important military backer during more than a year of fighting.

In his first term, Trump defied international consensus with a series of moves praised by the Israeli government but condemned by Palestinians.

He recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, moving the US embassy there, and endorsed Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law.

Comments 1
Thumb gebran_sons 12 November 2024, 20:42

Saudi Arabia must not make the same mistake Qatar did after 2006 War by helping rebuild the South and Dahia without requiring implementation of UN resolutions. This resulted in Hizbollah (Iran Brigade) military occupation of Lebanon and its reign of terror and misery. Hizb mercenaries spreading to train Houthis, Syrian and Iraqi terrorists destabilizing their countries to insure Iranian hegemony. Saudi Arabia must make clear to all Lebanese, especially that Hizbollah is classified as a terrorist organization, that no Saudi/Arab reconstruction aid will come to Lebanon without disarming Hizb and insuring Lebanon sovereignty on all its land with no arms outside army. Otherwise, any reconstruction aid will be hurting Lebanon and insuring Hizb oppressive occupation and indoctrination of its followers as well as intimidation of others and threatening the life of all opposition. The Arab/Muslim final declaration in Riyadh was a disappointment for lack of clarity.