Saudi Gazette report
RIYADH — Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan reiterated Saudi Arabia’s call for an immediate cessation of military operations in the besieged Gaza Strip. He made the remarks on Thursday while chairing the preparatory meeting of Arab foreign ministers for the emergency session of the Arab Summit to discuss the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip. The summit will be held in Riyadh on Saturday, Nov. 11.
In his speech, Prince Faisal expressed hope that the summit would contribute to stimulating the international community’s decisive action to stop the bloodshed and create the appropriate conditions to work towards peace in Gaza. He stressed that the summit, hosted by Saudi Arabia, is in response to the dangerous situation in the Gaza Strip.
He called on the international community, including the UN Security Council, to stand up and bear the burdens of its responsibilities, and take deterrent action to put an end to this tragedy. The minister also called for a decisive decision for immediate cessation of military operations as well as to provide protection to civilians and release hostages and prisoners. He underlined the need to stop the forced displacement of the Palestinian people in compliance with international norms and laws and common humanitarian principles.
Prince Faisal called for lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip, and enabling the delivery of relief aid and urgent medical equipment, without restrictions and in a sustainable manner, to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe that has claimed the lives of innocent people, more than half of whom are children and women, and that portends grave consequences for security and stability in the region and the world. “Within the Kingdom’s sense of its international responsibility, and within the principles of human solidarity, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center launched a popular fundraising campaign through the Sahem platform to provide relief to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and the Kingdom will spare no effort in everything that will contribute to alleviate the human suffering of Palestinian brothers and providing them with a decent life,” he said.
While reiterating the Kingdom’s adherence to peace as a strategic option, he said: “We must not lose sight of the goal of achieving just, comprehensive and lasting peace, in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions, and establishing a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
Prince Faisal stressed the Kingdom’s keenness, since the outbreak of the crisis, to consult and coordinate with its brothers and partners in the international community to search for a solution to this crisis.
The Kingdom’s delegation participating in the preparatory meeting included Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Eng. Walid Al-Khuraiji, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Multiple International Affairs Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Rasi, Kingdom’s Permanent Representative to Arab League Abdul Aziz Al-Matar and Director General of the Office of the Minister Abdul Rahman Al-Daoud.