Ministerial committee assigned by Arab-Islamic Summit meets with EU Foreign Affairs Council

Members of the ministerial committee assigned by the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit held a meeting with the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday.

The Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit took place in Riyadh in November 2023 in response to the war in Gaza and demanded an immediate end to Israeli military operations in the territory.

The ministerial committee was headed by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his counterparts from Qatar, Jordan, and Egypt also participated in the meeting, Saudi Press Agency reported.

During the meeting, attendees discussed the dangerous developments in the Gaza Strip, Israel’s continued military aggression targeting defenseless civilians, and an Israeli airstrike that triggered a massive blaze killing 45 people in a tent camp in Rafah on Sunday night.

A joint statement was released following the meeting by the Kingdom and Norway.

The members of the committee stressed the need for the international community to fulfil its responsibility and intervene immediately to stop the massacres committed by Israeli forces and limit the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The committee also reiterated the importance of creating serious political conditions for the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the relevant international resolutions.

Members of the committee rejected discussing the future of the Gaza Strip without discussing the Palestinian issue.

The committee also called for the confrontation of all flagrant violations committed by Israeli forces against the Palestinian people which increase the human tragedy and impede the entry of urgent humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip.

It stressed the importance of holding Israel accountable for ongoing violations in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem.