Muscat: Delegated by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, Sayyid Badr bin Hamad al Busaidy, Foreign Minister, chaired Oman's delegation at the Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh.
The Saudi capital is hosting the leaders of the 22 Arab countries on Saturday to consult, coordinate, and discuss ways to confront the continuing escalation in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Highlights
The Foreign Minister affirmed that the Sultanate of Oman is steadfast in its firm position in supporting the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to life in a way that guarantees them freedom, dignity, self-determination, and an honest stand with oneself, and even with the free human conscience, in calling for curbing and stopping this senseless war, and opening humanitarian corridors, facilitating the entry of all humanitarian and relief needs into the Gaza Strip, lifting the siege imposed on it, releasing hostages, prisoners and detainees, and calling on countries supporting Israel to distance themselves from and desist from double standards in applying international law.
“It truly saddens us, the positions of some friendly countries that defend international law and its application in other regions of the world, while not denouncing Israel’s violation of international law itself with regard to #Palestine.”
Sayyid Badr clarified that the only solution to the Palestinian issue lies in political action aimed at ending the occupation and establishing the independent Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with its capital in East Jerusalem in implementation of international law and United Nations resolutions, ensuring the achievement of justice, security and peace for all.
The Sultanate of #Oman affirms its constant endeavor to serve the issues of security and peace, out of our belief that we are an integral part of this interconnected world, sharing interests and destiny with its people. Therefore, standing by the just #Palestinian_Cause is an absolute obligation for every person with insight. In our contemporary world, enough is enough and the night is long, and the voice of truth must echo with truth and wisdom, so that Palestine obtains its rights guaranteed by international law, and becomes a full member of the international community, and a free and proud state on its land.
The Sultanate of Oman affirms its constant endeavor to serve the issues of security and peace, out of our belief that we are an integral part of this interconnected world, sharing interests and destiny with its people. Therefore, standing by the just Palestinian Cause is an absolute obligation for every person with insight. In our contemporary world, enough is enough and the night is long, and the voice of truth must echo with truth and wisdom, so that Palestine obtains its rights guaranteed by international law, and becomes a full member of the international community, and a free and proud state on its land.
- The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman affirmed his country's condemnation and categorical rejection of the barbaric war to which the Palestinians are exposed, and that the continuation of the war in Gaza is a failure of the UN Security Council, calling for an immediate cessation of military operations and the urgent opening of humanitarian corridors.
- The Secretary-General of the Arab League said that the forced displacement of Palestinians is a war crime that cannot be accepted, stressing that there is no talk about a future |without the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
- The Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation: The ethnic cleansing practiced by the Israeli occupation in #Gaza represents a crime against humanity, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the opening of safe corridors for the delivery of aid.
- The King of Jordan says that the people of Gaza Strip are being killed and destroyed in a hideous war that must stop immediately, and we cannot remain silent about the shortage of food and fuel supplies that the strip is facing, calling for building a political coalition to stop the war, stop displacement immediately, and launch a serious peace process.
- Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani: We are making mediation efforts to ensure the release of the Israeli hostages in Gaza. Emir of Qatar: The international community has failed to shoulder its legal and moral responsibilities.
Emir of Qatar: We hope to reach a humanitarian truce in the near future, so that the Gaza Strip will avoid aggravation of the humanitarian catastrophe that befell it.
- The Commissioner-General of UNRWA denies the allegations against the agency's schools, calling on the countries of the world to support and refuse the displacement of the people of Gaza, which is witnessing systematic killing of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, describing the situation as catastrophic and that everything is running out of food and fuel, and there is a severe shortage of medical supplies.
- The Egyptian President: Failure to stop the war in Gaza threatens the expansion of the conflict, demanding an international investigation into all violations of international law committed.
- The Turkish President: We are unable to describe the retaliation committed by Israel against civilians in Strip and the Western countries did not even demand a ceasefire.
- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas: “We call on the world to assume its responsibilities to immediately stop this brutal aggression against our people and secure the entry of medical and food supplies
Aid groups have joined pleas for a ceasefire, warning of a humanitarian "catastrophe" in Gaza, where food, water, and medicine are in short supply.
The Arab League and the OIC were originally meant to meet separately, but the Saudi foreign ministry announced early Saturday that the blocs' summits would be combined.
The move underscores the importance of reaching "a unified collective position that expresses the common Arab and Islamic will regarding the dangerous and unprecedented developments witnessed in Gaza and the Palestinian territories," the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
The Arab League aims to demonstrate "how the Arabs will move on the international scene to stop the aggression, support Palestine and its people, condemn the Israeli occupation, and hold it accountable for its crimes", the bloc's assistant secretary-general, Hossam Zaki, said this week.
Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Riyadh on Saturday for the summit, his first Saudi trip since the two countries agreed to restore ties in March.
"The US has prevented the ceasefire in Gaza and is expanding the scope of the war," he said before departing from Tehran.
Raisi is the first Iranian president to visit Saudi Arabia since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attended an OIC meeting in the kingdom in 2012.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was welcomed back in the Arab League earlier this year, are also attending.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Friday condemned "what the Gaza Strip is facing from military assault, targeting of civilians, the violations of international law by the Israeli occupation authorities".
The kingdom was scheduled to host two extraordinary summits, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit and the Arab League summit, on Saturday and Sunday.
The joint summit will replace the two separate gatherings in light of the Gaza situation, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said. The joint meeting "will be held in response to the exceptional circumstances taking place in the Palestinian Gaza Strip as countries feel the need to unify efforts and come out with a unified collective position," it said. The decision was taken after the Kingdom consulted with the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, according to the statement. Arab foreign ministers, who held an emergency meeting On Thursday to prepare for the summit, were divided as some countries, led by Algeria, called to cut all diplomatic ties with Israel, two delegates told Reuters.
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