Saudi Crown Prince calls on all countries to stop arms exports to Israel

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday called on all countries during an extraordinary summit of the BRICS group of nations to stop exporting weapons to Israel.

South Africa is hosting a virtual meeting of BRICS — a group of major emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — aimed at drawing up a common response to the Israel-Hamas war.

Fighting has raged in Gaza after Hamas on October 7 launched a surprised attack on Israel, in which around 1,200 people were killed.

Following the attacks, Israel launched a relentless bombing campaign and ground offensive in Gaza Strip. According to health-ministry, Israel’s ruthless bombing has killed more than 13,300 people, thousands of them children.

Saudi Arabia demands the start of a serious and comprehensive peace process to establish a Palestinian state along the borders of 1967, the Saudi Crown Prince said.

#BREAKING: #SaudiArabia‘s Crown Prince calls on all countries to stop exporting weapons to #Israel pic.twitter.com/pcSg8yvCC5

— Saudi Gazette (@Saudi_Gazette) November 21, 2023

“The Kingdom’s position is constant and firm; there is no way to achieve security and stability in Palestine except through the implementation of international decisions related to the two-state solution,” MBS said.

Riyadh was invited to the join the BRICS bloc earlier this year.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince reiterated the Kingdom’s rejection of Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip and demanded an immediate halt to them.

He said the “brutal crimes” taking place in Gaza require a collective effort to stop.

Read more: Over 24 killed in Israeli strike on UN-run school on Gaza: UN

Muhammad Bin Salman reiterated Saudi Arabia’s rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and called for collective efforts to stop the deterioration of the humanitarian conditions in the enclave.

Saudi Arabia made tireless efforts since the beginning of the war on October 7 to protect civilians in the Gaza Strip, the Crown Prince added.

Truce agreement

Earlier in the day, the chief of Hamas told Reuters that the Palestinian group was near a truce agreement with Israel.

Hamas officials are “close to reaching a truce agreement” with Israel and the group has delivered its response to Qatari mediators, Ismail Haniyeh said in a statement sent to Reuters by his aide.

There were no more details about the terms of the potential agreement.

US President Joe Biden said on Monday he believed an accord was near.

“We’re closer now than we’ve been before,” White House spokesman John Kirby said of an agreement aimed at securing the release of some hostages held in Gaza and a pause in the fighting that would allow much needed aid into the besieged enclave.

Hamas took about 240 hostages during its Oct. 7 rampage into Israel that killed 1,200 people.

Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), met Haniyeh in Qatar on Monday to “advance humanitarian issues” related to the conflict, the Geneva-based ICRC said in a statement. She also met separately with Qatari authorities.

The ICRC said it was not part of negotiations aimed at releasing the hostages, but as a neutral intermediary it was ready “to facilitate any future release that the parties agree to.”

Talk of an imminent hostage deal has swirled for days. Reuters reported last week that Qatari mediators were seeking a deal for Hamas and Israel to exchange 50 hostages in return for a three-day ceasefire that would boost emergency aid shipments to Gaza civilians, citing an official briefed on the talks.