Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman called for collective global efforts to stop Israel’s brutal crimes in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Addressing the extraordinary virtual summit of the BRICS plus group of nations on Tuesday, he urged all countries to stop exporting weapons to Israel. The BRICS-plus Extraordinary Joint Meeting on the Middle East situation was convened by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the current chair of the BRICS grouping.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman stressed the Kingdom’s rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. He emphasized that Saudi Arabia demands the start of a serious and comprehensive peace process to establish a Palestinian state along the borders of 1967. “The Kingdom’s position is constant and firm; there is no way to achieve security and stability in Palestine except through the implementation of international decisions related to the two-state solution. The BRICS summit is being held at a difficult time that the Gaza Strip is going through, and we renew our categorical rejection of the Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip.”

The Crown Prince called for the immediate entry of aid into the Gaza Strip. He stressed that Gaza is witnessing brutal crimes against civilians, innocent people, health facilities, and places of worship, and that this requires a collective effort to stop this humanitarian catastrophe. The Crown Prince called for collective efforts to stop the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and stressed the necessity of providing humanitarian corridors in Gaza.

The BRICS is a group of major emerging economies, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Leaders from Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates - who are all due to join the BRICS group in January 2024 – were invited to attend Tuesday’s meeting. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and UN Secretary General António Guterres were among the leaders who addressed the virtual summit.