Riyadh Summit calls for action to stop Israel’s aggressive tactics

• The Riyadh Summit condemned attacks on the Lebanese Army, civilian casualties, and UNIFIL targeting, reaffirming support for Lebanon’s sovereignty, armed forces, and the swift election of a new president.

The draft resolution of the Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh called for mobilizing international support to suspend Israel’s participation in the United Nations, while highlighting the escalating violence in the region and its global consequences. The summit also condemned the ongoing attacks in Gaza, which have extended to Lebanon and violated the sovereignty of Iraq, Syria, and Iran, warning of the lack of decisive UN action and the erosion of international legitimacy, according to Q8-Press.

According to Al-Arabiya, the summit’s draft resolution strongly condemned the horrific crimes committed by the Israeli occupation army in the Gaza Strip, describing them as acts of genocide. These included mass graves, torture, field executions, enforced disappearances, looting, and ethnic cleansing, particularly in northern Gaza over the past weeks.

The summit called on the Security Council to form an independent and credible international commission of inquiry to investigate these crimes and to take serious steps to prevent the destruction of evidence and ensure accountability for the perpetrators, ensuring they do not go unpunished.

The summit also condemned the ongoing Israeli aggression against Lebanon, violations of its sovereignty, and the inviolability of its territory. It called for an immediate ceasefire and full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006), while affirming solidarity with Lebanon in the face of this aggression.

In addition, it strongly condemned attacks on the Lebanese Army, civilian casualties, the destruction of residential areas, forced displacement, and the targeting of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The summit reaffirmed its support for Lebanese constitutional institutions, the Lebanese Armed Forces, and the sovereignty of Lebanon, stressing the importance of expediting the election of a new President.

Israel’s policy of collective punishment condemned

The draft resolution also condemned Israel’s policy of collective punishment, including the use of siege and starvation against civilians in Gaza. It called on the international community to take immediate steps to end the humanitarian crisis caused by the aggression, including pressuring Israel to fully withdraw from Gaza and reopen all crossings between Israel and the Strip.

At the same time, it expressed a desire to mobilize international support to freeze Israel’s participation in the United Nations, calling on the Security Council to compel Israel to suspend its policies and urging all states to ban the export or transfer of weapons to Israel.

The draft also called for effective international action to ensure Israel respects international law, denouncing the double standards in the application of international law, humanitarian law, and the UN Charter. It warned that such duality severely undermines the credibility of states that support Israel, as well as the credibility of multilateral action and the selective application of human values.

Mobilizing support for Palestine’s full membership in the UN

Additionally, the draft affirmed the need to mobilize international support for Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations, recognizing the continuous efforts of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, as a member of the Security Council, in submitting a draft resolution for Palestine’s membership and supporting the cause and unity of the Palestinian people.

The draft highlighted key points, including calls for political and diplomatic support for Palestine, international protection for the Palestinian people, the achievement of Palestinian national unity, and the effective assumption of responsibility over all occupied Palestinian territories, including Gaza and the West Bank, with Jerusalem as its capital.

Importance of supporting Palestine economically

It also emphasized the importance of supporting Palestine economically through humanitarian aid, economic recovery, and Gaza’s reconstruction, while urging continued support for Palestine’s budget and the activation of a transparent financial safety net. Finally, it called for the immediate and full release of Palestinian tax revenues withheld by the Israeli occupation authority.

In addition, the draft revealed that the Joint Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee, chaired by Saudi Arabia and formed in accordance with the decision issued by the first Joint Arab-Islamic Summit on November 11, 2023, will continue its work, intensify its efforts, and expand its mandate to include efforts to halt the aggression against Lebanon.

The draft resolution also stressed the need to protect navigation in sea lanes in accordance with international law, welcomed the signing in Riyadh of the tripartite mechanism to support the Palestinian cause by the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the African Union, and commended the firm positions of the African Union in support of the Palestinian cause.