Riyadh, Nov 14: In a significant development, Saudi Arabia and several other Arab nations reportedly blocked a move to cut diplomatic and economic ties with Israel during a joint summit of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convened in Riyadh.

 

 

In the proposal, there were demands including-

 

1. to prevent the transfer of US military equipment to Israel from US bases in the region;

2. to freeze all diplomatic and economic contacts with Israel;

3. to threaten to use oil as a means of leverage;

4. to bar flights to and from Israel through Arab states’ airspace;

5. to dispatch a joint delegation to the US, Europe, and Russia to push for a ceasefire.

The countries that rejected these demands were Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco, Mauritania, Djibouti, Jordan and Egypt, Channel 12 reported on Saturday (Nov 11).

According to the Reuters news agency, the proposal was moved by Algeria which sought a complete freeze in ties with Israel. However, the Arab nations, who rejected the proposal, felt that there was a need to keep the communication channels open with Israel and hence, shot down the move, Reuters reported citing two delegates who attended the summit

Saudi Arabia was earlier scheduled to host a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) on November 11, and the Arab League Summit on November 12. However, in view of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the Kingdom decided to host a combined summit in Riyadh on November 11.

Among the notable presence at the summit was Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, making it the first visit by an Iranian head of state to Saudi Arabia, and comes nearly eight months after China brokered a truce between the two countries. He asked the gathering of Islamic countries to designate the Israeli military as a “terrorist organisation".

Whereas, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that an international peace conference should be called to find a lasting solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. “What we need in Gaza is not pauses for a couple of hours, rather we need a permanent ceasefire," Reuters quoted him as saying.