Arab and Muslim leaders call for immediate end to Gaza war

Saudi Arabia and Muslim countries called on Saturday for an immediate end to military operations in Gaza, declaring at a joint Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh that Israel bears responsibility for "crimes" against Palestinians.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman gathered Arab and Muslim leaders for the summit as the kingdom has sought to exert its influence to press the United States and Israel for an end to hostilities in Gaza.

Dozens of leaders including Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Syrian President Bashar Al Assad attended the meeting.

Prince Mohammed said the kingdom affirms its "condemnation and categorical rejection of this barbaric war against our brothers in Palestine."

"We are facing a humanitarian catastrophe that proves the failure of the Security Council and the international community to put an end to the flagrant Israeli violations of international laws," he said in an address to the summit.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Palestinians are facing a "genocidal war" and called on the United States to end Israeli "aggression."

As he headed to Riyadh, Raisi said it was time for action over the conflict rather than talk.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news site said Raisi will propose that Muslim countries ban Israel from using their airspace and prevent the US from shipping weapons to Israel from its military bases in the region.

Erdogan called for an international peace conference to find a permanent solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestinians.

"What we need in Gaza is not pauses for a couple of hours, rather we need a permanent ceasefire," Erdogan told the summit.

The kingdom had been scheduled to host two extraordinary summits, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League, on Saturday and Sunday. The joint summit will replace the two gatherings in light of the "extraordinary" Gaza situation, the Saudi Foreign ministry said.

Hamas called on the summit to take "a historic and decisive decision and move to stop the Zionist aggression immediately."

"We call on Arab and Muslim leaders ... to put pressure on the American administration, which bears direct responsibility in the genocidal war that our people are facing in the Gaza Strip," a statement from the Palestinian group said.

Reuters