'Israel cannot claim self defense:' Saudi FM
Russia welcomed several Arab and Muslim officials to discuss how international authorities can plan an end to the Israeli war on Gaza
The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Indonesia, Palestine, and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha landed in Moscow on 21 November to discuss the situation in Gaza with Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov.
“We can see that crimes against civilians in the Gaza Strip are piling up, and innocent blood is being spilled,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said. “Hospitals and civilian infrastructure facilities are being destroyed. Self-defense cannot justify these actions."
The Saudi foreign minister also called for an immediate ceasefire, ending the siege on Gaza and the release of prisoners and captives.
“The heinous crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian civilians angered the Arab and Muslim worlds,” Bin Farhan said.
He added that Riyadh and other Muslim nations are looking forward to cooperation with Russia and international partners to bring the crisis in Gaza to an end, noting that beginning peace processes to end the war would require initiating an effective accountability scheme towards Israeli violations.
“We cannot talk about the future of Gaza at this stage before a ceasefire is achieved and before all forms of violence against civilians and civilian areas are halted,” the Saudi foreign minister said.
For his part, Lavrov spoke about the actions taken by Israel in their fight against the Palestinian resistance, saying, "I would like to reiterate that we condemn each and every form of terrorism, but when it comes to the fight against terrorism, there is a need to use methods that neither suggest collective punishment nor run counter to international humanitarian law, or rather, frankly speaking, blatantly violate it."
While in the meeting, Lavrov expressed his gratitude for being able to work with the Arab and Islamic states.
"The Quartet of International Mediators,” a diplomatic group consisting of EU, Russia, UN, and US in order to mediate the Palestine-Israel war, “which, as a matter of fact, was dissolved at the discretion of the United States - they refused to work in one format - this Quartet did not include representatives from the Arab, Islamic world," Lavrov said.
The Russian foreign minister added, "For many years, long before the current developments, we have been insisting that the Quartet operate in complete coordination with the Arab League. Our western partners, regrettably, did not show much enthusiasm here; the United Nations failed to demonstrate due initiative on this matter. That is why the Quartet, as a matter of fact, has failed to do the job which was assigned to it by the UN Security Council.”
The official delegation of Arab and Islamic countries on Monday set off on an international tour to meet officials from each of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.