Saudi Arabia calls for separate Palestinian state, rejects Israeli self-defense claim.
New York ( Web News )
Saudi Arabia calls for the creation of an independent Palestinian state to protect the rights of the Palestinian people, the Kingdom’s deputy foreign minister said during the United Nations Security Council debate as he urged the council to take a firm stance against Israeli military occupation in the region.
According to reports from the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Saudi’s Vice Foreign Minister Waleed el-Khereji on Wednesday condemned the forced displacement of Palestinians and rejected Israel’s statements of self-defense as an excuse to continuously bomb Gaza, leading to mass displacement in the besieged enclave.
The UN humanitarian agency OCHA on Tuesday reported that Israeli forces had issued fresh evacuation orders for a section of Gaza’s city of Khan Younis housing an estimated half a million residents and displaced people.
The orders came as the World Food Programme warned that Gazans were facing “catastrophic food insecurity” and as the UN chief denounced Israel’s rejection of a two-state solution – seen by its biggest ally, the United States, as the only path to a durable peace.
The Saudi deputy foreign minister cautioned about the worsening situation in Gaza and urged the council to take concrete steps to halt Israeli military aggression and indiscriminate bombing of unarmed civilians.
At least 25,490 people in Gaza, around 70 percent of them women and children, have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its military operation in response to Hamas’ October 7 attack, according to the health ministry in the territory.
Saudi Arabia also warned against the conflict expanding to the wider Middle East and expressed concerns over the consequences of increased military operations in the Red Sea region between the Houthis and United States and UK military which pose a grave threat to global trade and economy.
The Kingdom’s priority is the end of military operations in Palestine and peace and security in the region, the Saudi deputy foreign minister said as he urged all parties to respect international law.