Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman says Israel committing genocide in Gaza
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 23 October 2024
Sondos Asem reports in Middle Est Eye on 11 November 2024:
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday denounced Israel’s war on Gaza as a “genocide” in the first such declaration by the kingdom’s prime minister and de facto ruler.
At a joint summit by the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Conference held in Riyadh, the prince and other Arab leaders doubled down on their criticism of Israel’s assaults on Gaza and Lebanon, calling for an immediate ceasefire.
“This summit is held as an extension to the previous summit in light of the continued heinous Israeli aggressions against our brotherly Palestinian people and the extension of aggressions on the brotherly Republic of Lebanon,” he said in his keynote speech.
“The kingdom reiterates its denounciation of the genocide perpetrated by Israel against the brotherly Palestinian people, which resulted in more than 150,000 martyrs, wounded and missing, the majority of whom are women and children.”
The Saudi government has been critical of Israel’s onslaught on Gaza since 7 October last year, and has backed calls for a ceasefire and a two-state solution, despite earlier speculation that the Gulf kingdom and Israel were close to formalising open relations. Mohamed bin Salman has recently stated that his government will not do so without the establishment of a Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
In his speech, the prince also denounced Israel’s “desecration of the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque” and its “undermining of the critical role of the Palestinian Authority on all Palestinian territory”, saying such policies only serve to curtail peace in the region.