Israeli wars in Gaza, Lebanon on Arab-Islamic summit agenda in Saudi Arabia

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Lebanese PM Najib Mikati among those who will be attending the Riyadh meeting.

Arab and Muslim leaders are set to hold a summit in Saudi Arabia that will focus on Israel’s devastating wars in Gaza and Lebanon, according to Saudi state media.

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs had announced Monday’s summit in late October during the first meeting of an “international alliance” pushing for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In a report, the Saudi Press Agency said Israel’s “aggression” in Gaza and Lebanon “has compelled Arab and Islamic leaders to take urgent action”.

“Key priorities [for the summit] include halting the aggression, protecting civilians, providing support to the Palestinian and Lebanese people, unifying positions, and exerting pressure on the international community to take decisive steps to end the ongoing attacks and establish lasting peace and stability in the region,” it added.

(Al Jazeera)

The Saudi state-run Al Ekhbariya news channel broadcast footage of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati landing in Riyadh for the summit on Sunday evening.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif are among those scheduled to attend.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian would not be taking part due to pressing “executive matters”, officials said. But in a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Pezeshkian said Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref will attend the summit.

The November 2023 meeting had featured an appearance by Iran’s then-President Ebrahim Raisi.

The summit comes a 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 actions in Gaza as “barbaric”. However, they were unable to agree on action against Israel despite calls to sever economic and diplomatic ties with it.

The 57-member OIC and 22-member Arab League include countries which recognise Israel and those firmly opposed to its regional integration. Last year’s summit in Riyadh saw disagreement on measures like severing economic and diplomatic ties with Israel and disrupting its oil supplies.

Donald Trump’s election last week for a second term in the White House is likely to be on leaders’ minds in Riyadh, said Anna Jacobs, senior Gulf analyst for the International Crisis Group think tank.

“This summit is very much an opportunity for regional leaders to signal to the incoming Trump administration what they want in terms of US engagement,” she told the AFP news agency. “The message will likely be one of dialogue, de-escalation and calling out Israeli military campaigns in the region.”

(Al Jazeera)

Umer Karim, an expert on Saudi politics at the University of Birmingham, said Riyadh will use Monday’s summit to signal to the incoming Trump team that it remains a strong partner.

The message is that Trump “can rely on the Saudis as being representatives of the Muslim world”, and that “if you want to extend American interests in the region, Saudi Arabia is your bet”, he said.

Israel’s genocide in Gaza began after an unprecedented Hamas attack in October 2023, claiming more than 1,100 lives. Since then, Israel has killed more than 43,600 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them civilians.

Israel has also targeted the Lebanese armed group, Hezbollah, killing more than 3,100 people in that country in a year.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies