Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has said Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza in the first such condemnation by the kingdom’s de facto ruler since the start of the war.
The prince and other Arab leaders criticised Israel for its attacks in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran at a joint summit by the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Conference held in Riyadh as they demanded an immediate ceasefire.
"This summit is held as an extension to the previous summit in light of the continued heinous Israeli aggressions against our brotherly Palestinian people and the extension of aggressions on the brotherly Republic of Lebanon," the crown prince, who is also known as MBS, said in his keynote speech.
"The kingdom reiterates its denunciation of the genocide perpetrated by Israel against the brotherly Palestinian people, which resulted in more than 150,000 martyrs, wounded and missing, the majority of whom are women and children."
He also condemned the “massacre committed against Palestinian and Lebanese people” in some of the harshest words yet.
The Saudi government has hardened its stance against Israel since its onslaught on Gaza since 7 October 2023 and demanded a ceasefire, calling for a two-state solution. Efforts by the Joe Biden administration to broker a normalisation accord between Saudi Arabia and Israel also suffered a setback after Riyadh’s government said it would not do so without the establishment of a Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
He also lashed out at Israel for banning the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, and attacks on aid agencies in Gaza.
The summit was also attended by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Nigerian president Bola Tinubu.
Mr Abbas demanded stern sanctions on Israel and halting the expansion of settlements "within one year".
Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said Israel’s actions were "the systematic murder of civilians in Gaza" as he refrained from mentioning the word genocide.
Mr Erdogan warned Israel against efforts "to annihilate Palestinians".
“We must maintain our coordinated efforts to put pressure towards measures against those committing genocide in Palestine,” he said.
More than 43,400 people, mostly children and women, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, since Israel launched a military campaign on the strip.
The long-simmering campaign between Israel and Hamas reached a breaking point after 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas militants who broke into southern Israel and took 253 people hostages. They also killed 1,200 people.
