Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Extraordinary Arab-Islamic summit, which concluded in Riyadh on Monday, underlined the need to mobilize international support to freeze Israel's participation in the United Nations General Assembly and its affiliated bodies.

It also warned of the danger of the escalation sweeping the region, saying that the aggression on Gaza, which continues for over a year, has been spilled over to include Lebanon, in addition to affecting the sovereignty of Iraq, Syria and Iran, without any decisive international actions to halt them.

The Arab and Islamic leaders also decided to work to mobilize international support for the State of Palestine to join the United Nations as a full member. They called on all countries to ban the export or transfer of weapons and ammunition to Israel.

The resolution, adopted by the summit, condemned in the strongest terms the horrific and shocking crimes committed by the Israeli occupation army in the Gaza Strip, calling it a crime of genocide in terms of unearthing of mass graves, torture, field executions, enforced disappearances and looting, as well as ethnic cleansing, especially in the northern Gaza Strip over the past weeks.

The Arab and Muslim leaders called on the Security Council to form an independent and credible international committee to investigate these crimes, and to take serious steps to prevent the concealment of evidence and proof to hold the perpetrators accountable and ensure that they do not escape punishment.

The resolution also strongly condemned the continued and persistent Israeli aggression against Lebanon and the violation of its sovereignty and the sanctity of its territories while calling for an immediate ceasefire. It urged the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution No. 1701 (2006) in all its provisions, and the emphasis on solidarity with the Lebanese Republic in confronting this aggression.

The summit strongly denounced the killing of civilians, the systematic destruction of residential areas, the forced displacement of people, and the targeting of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). It pledged support for the Lebanese constitutional institutions in exercising their authority and extending the sovereignty of the Lebanese state over all its territories. The summit emphasized in this regard support for the Lebanese Armed Forces as the guarantor of Lebanon's unity and stability, while stressing the importance of expediting the election of a president for the country.

The Arab-Islamic summit condemned the policy of collective punishment pursued by Israel and the use of siege and starvation as a weapon against civilians in the Gaza Strip. It called on the international community to take immediate practical steps to end the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the aggression, including forcing Israel to withdraw completely from the Gaza Strip and open all crossings between it and the Strip.

The resolution called on the UN Security Council to oblige Israel to stop its policies, and to demand that all countries ban the export or transfer of weapons to Israel. It also called on the international community to take effective action to oblige Israel to respect international law, and to denounce the double standards in the application of international law, international humanitarian law, and the United Nations Charter. “This double standard seriously undermines the credibility of the countries that protect Israel and place it above accountability, and the credibility of multilateral action, apart from exposing the selectivity in the application of the system of humanitarian values,” the resolution pointed out.

The summit underlined the need to continue efforts to mobilize international support for the accession of the State of Palestine to the United Nations as a full member. It appreciated the continuous efforts made by Algeria, in its capacity as a member of the two organizations in the Security Council, to submit a draft resolution for full membership, in addition to its efforts to support the cause and the unity of the Palestinian ranks.

The summit called for the provision of all forms of political and diplomatic support and international protection for the Palestinian people and the State of Palestine and to achieve Palestinian national unity so as to assume its responsibilities effectively over all the occupied Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip and its unification with the West Bank, including the city of Jerusalem. It also stressed the need to assist the State of Palestine economically by supporting its efforts in humanitarian relief programs, economic recovery and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

The resolution emphasized the importance of continuing to support the budget of the State of Palestine, in addition to activating a transparent financial safety net according to mechanisms agreed upon. It requested the international community to oblige the Israeli occupation authority to release the withheld Palestinian tax revenues in full without any delay.

The summit tasked the Joint Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee, headed by Saudi Arabia and formed in accordance with the decision of the first Joint Arab-Islamic Summit on November 11, 2023, to continue its work, as well as to intensify its efforts, and expanding them to include working to stop the aggression against Lebanon.

The resolution stressed the need to protect navigation in maritime corridors in line with the rules of international law. It welcomed the signing of the tripartite mechanism to support the Palestinian cause by the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the African Union.