Top Saudi diplomat urges intl. community to press Israel for ceasefire in Gaza
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud says the international community needs to shoulder responsibility to stop Israel’s violations in the Gaza Strip.
The top Saudi diplomat made the appeal on Monday during a meeting between China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and counterparts from Arab and Muslim countries in Beijing.
“We are here to send a clear signal: that is we must immediately stop the fighting and the killings, we must immediately deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza,” Prince Faisal said.
“We aspire to cooperate with China and other countries that understand the seriousness of the situation to end the war,” he noted.
He argued that the dangerous escalations in Gaza require effective international action to end the conflict.
‘China ready to help restore peace in region’
Wang, for his part, said Beijing is willing to work to help restore peace in the West Asia region.
“Let us work together to quickly cool down the situation in Gaza and restore peace in the Middle East as soon as possible,” he said.
He also said that Beijing is a “good friend and brother of Arab and Muslim countries,” adding that it has “always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights and interests.”
Wang called on the international community to take urgent action to stop the ongoing “humanitarian disaster” in Gaza and prevent the tragedy from spreading to other regions.
“The situation in Gaza affects all countries around the world, questioning the human sense of right and wrong and humanity’s bottom line,” he said.
Foreign ministers from Arab and Muslim nations are in China on the first leg of a tour to the permanent member states of the United Nations Security Council in order to push for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and allow humanitarian aid convoys into the area.
Israel has been launching relentless air and ground attacks on Gaza, including hospitals, residences, and houses of worship, since October 7, when Palestinian resistance movements launched a surprise attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the regime.
The Israeli strikes have killed at least 13,000 Palestinians, including 5,500 children and 3,200 women. Over 30,000 individuals have sustained injuries as well.
According to the Ministry of Health, 6,000 citizens are still missing or under the rubble, including 4,000 women and children.
