OIC summit calls for end to Israeli aggression against Palestinians, rejects narrative of self-defence

RIYADH – An Arab-Islamic summit hosted by Saudi Arabia on Saturday called for an end to the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians and rejected the US and West's narrative that Israel was bombing Gaza in self-defence.

The Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit, which was held to discuss the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, condemned “Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, war crimes and barbaric and inhumane massacres by the occupation government”.

The joint communique issued at the end of the summit called for an end to the siege on Gaza, allowing humanitarian aid into the enclave and stopping arms exports to Israel.

The participants in the summit demanded that the United Nations Security Council adopt “a decisive and binding resolution” to stop Israel’s “aggression” and dismissed out of hand any future political resolution to the conflict that would keep Gaza separate from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Press Conference: Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit. https://t.co/8GGH9zUa5z

— OIC (@OIC_OCI) November 11, 2023

The OIC Summit urged the International Criminal Court to investigate “war crimes and crimes against humanity that Israel is committing” in the Palestinian territories.

Arab leaders and Iran’s president meeting in the Saudi capital on Saturday roundly condemned Israel’s actions in its conflict against Hamas in Gaza, as fears mount the fighting could draw in other countries.

HRH the Crown Prince met with President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on the sidelines of the Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit. pic.twitter.com/qYTdQsO3ET

— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) November 11, 2023

The emergency meeting of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) comes after the October 7 surprise attacks by Hamas. Israel’s subsequent aerial and ground offensive has killed over 11,000 people, mostly civilians and many of them children.

Host Saudi Arabia “confirms that it holds the occupation (Israeli) authorities responsible for the crimes committed against the Palestinian people,” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Gulf kingdom’s de facto ruler, said as Saturday’s summit began.

“We are certain that the only way to guarantee security, peace and stability in the region is to end the occupation, siege and the settlements,” he said of Israel’s actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.