The Arab-Islamic summit should call for Israel’s accountability for war crimes as Israeli strikes have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians including children and women in Gaza, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday.
“This conference must call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and impose an immediate arms embargo on Israel,” he said at the regional summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The summit comes one year after a similar gathering in Riyadh of the Cairo-based Arab League and the Jeddah-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) during which leaders condemned Israeli forces’ actions in Gaza as “barbaric”.
The 57-member OIC and 22-member Arab League include countries which recognise Israel and those firmly opposed to its regional integration.
The war in Gaza erupted with Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year, which resulted in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 43,600 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which like Hamas is backed by Iran, began firing on Israel after the October 7 attack.
The regular cross-border exchanges escalated in late September when Israel intensified its air strikes before sending ground troops into southern Lebanon against Hezbollah.
He stated that Israel’s actions in Palestine constitute “genocide, questioning how long this massacre will continue to be overlooked.”
The PM condemned Israel’s attacks on Iran and its aggression against Lebanon, warning that these actions could ignite a larger conflict. He reaffirmed his commitment to the cause of Palestinian liberation.
He reiterated the call for the establishment of an independent State of Palestine on the borders of 4 June 1967, with Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
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PM Shehbaz also sought the lifting of Israel’s blockade against Gaza, ensuring the delivery of food, water, electricity, and medical aid to people. “… accountability for Israel’s war crimes, pursue the adoption of UNGA’s emergency special session resolution 10/24 that follows up a historic advisory opinion by the ICJ.”
The prime minister also called for a “comprehensive review” of Israel’s membership in the United Nations.
The premier called for the summit to be a “moment” to transform the leaders’ voices into action. He added that the leaders should move beyond condemnation to act swiftly to uphold justice and dignity for Palestinians.
“May our unity today be the dawn of Palestine’s freedom,” PM Shehbaz said.
