Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Saudi Arabia has postponed the fifth Arab-African summit that was scheduled for Friday and will, instead, host emergency Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Co-operation summits on Friday and Saturday to discuss Israel’s war on Gaza.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry said it had reached the decision on Tuesday night after consulting with the Secretariat of the League of Arab States and the African Union Commission to “ensure that political events in the region do not affect the Arab-African partnership”.
The Arab League summit will take place on Friday, involving most leaders of member states, while the OIC conference, to which Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been invited to, will be held on Saturday, a source in the ministry said.
Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al Falih said the kingdom would convene an emergency Arab summit in Riyadh “in the next few days”.
“In the short term, the objective of bringing these three summits and other gatherings under the leadership of Saudi Arabia would be to drive towards peaceful resolution of the conflict,” Mr Al Falih said, before the decision was made to postpone the Arab-African summit.
Sources from the Saudi Foreign Ministry and the Arab League told The National that mid-level discussions between foreign ministers had been held to discuss short-term measures to bring about an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
“Saudi efforts on the Palestinian cause have always centred on the Arab Peace Initiative and there is consensus among our neighbours on the long-term political solution for Palestine,” a Saudi source close to the government told The National.
“The summits this weekend will be focused on the heads of states meeting behind closed doors to show unity on the urgency to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza and efforts to bring about a ceasefire.”
Mr Al Falih said talks aimed at establishing diplomatic ties with Israel would continue, despite the kingdom’s recent criticism of Israeli military actions in Gaza.
However, they will be “contingent on a pathway to a peaceful resolution of the Palestinian question”, he said.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said his country's troops were advancing towards the centre of Gaza city.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated that there would be no ceasefire until the roughly 240 hostages taken from Israel during the Hamas group’s attack on October 7 were freed.
A source confirmed to Axios on Wednesday that US President Joe Biden held talks with Mr Netanyahu on a possible three-day “humanitarian pause” to ensure the release of 10 to 15 captives held by Hamas in the coming days.
Under the proposal between the US, Israel and Qatar, Hamas will release the hostages and use the “pause” to verify the identities of all the hostages and deliver a complete list of names of the people it is holding.
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Smoke rises as displaced Palestinians take shelter at Al Shifa hospital. Reuters -
A Palestinian girl wounded in Israeli strikes waits for treatment at Al Shifa hospital, in Gaza city. Reuters -
Flames rage in a field near the border village of Burj Al-Mamluk, in southern Lebanon's Khiam plain, after an Israeli bombardment. AFP -
Smoke rises after air strikes during direct combat between the Israeli army and Hamas, near the beach road in Gaza city. EPA -
Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, looking for safety, camp on the grounds of Al Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP -
People search through buildings, destroyed during Israeli air strikes in Khan Younis, Gaza. Getty Images -
Israeli troops during operations in northern Gaza. AFP -
A photo taken from the Israeli side of the border with Gaza shows the continued Israeli bombardment of the northern Gaza Strip. AFP -
Palestinian men pray over the bodies of members of the Abu Taim family before burial in Khan Younis. AFP -
Israeli soldiers stand amid rubble during the ground invasion against Palestinian militant group Hamas, in the northern Gaza Strip. Reuters -
A woman and two children evacuated from Gaza walk on the tarmac at the Baza 90 air force base in Otopeni, Romania, after arriving from Egypt. AP -
Gazans inspect the Khaled bin Al-Walid Mosque, which was destroyed during Israeli air raids in Khan Younis. Getty Images -
Residents flee from Al Shatea refugee camp during combat between the Israeli army and Hamas in Gaza city. EPA -
An artillery unit moves near the border with Lebanon, in Tel Aviv, Israel. Getty Images -
Smoke rises during direct combat between the Israeli army and militants of the Ezz Al-Din Al Qassam militia, the military wing of the Hamas movement, at the beach road in west-centre Gaza City. EPA -
People search for survivors and bodies after a building was hit by Israeli bombing in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP -
A boy learns his father has been killed in an Israeli air strike at a hospital in Khan Younis. Reuters -
Israeli soldiers training in the upper Galilee region, near the border with Lebanon. AFP -
Destruction in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from Sderot in southern Israel. Reuters -
A girl looks on as bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes are laid out at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Reuters -
Mourners pray next to the bodies of members of the Daher family, who were killed by Israel strikes, at the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. Reuters -
A satellite image shows the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Reuters -
People search through the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israeli air raids in Khan Younis. Getty Images -
Smoke rises over the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from Sderot. Reuters -
An ambulance transporting injured Palestinians to Egyptian hospitals for treatment waits on the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing. Reuters -
Palestinian doctor Mohammad Abu Namoos, who chose to stay in Gaza to treat patients, says goodbye to his family before they leave. Reuters -
The funeral of three children and their grandmother killed in an Israeli air strike in Blida, Lebanon. EPA -
Palestinian children denouncing the killing of children in Gaza by waving banners and flags during a sit-in protest at the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut. AFP -
Men pray during a rally in support of Palestinians outside Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York. AFP -
A teddy bear symbolising hostages and missing children is placed on a bench in Tel Aviv, as people gather for a vigil to mark the one-month anniversary of the October 7 attack by Hamas militants on Israel. Reuters -
A survivor of the Nova Festival attack, May Hayat, takes cover as rocket sirens sound, during her first visit to the scene of the attack, near Re'im, Israel. Reuters -
Palestinians flee Gaza city to the southern Gaza Strip on Salah al-Din street in Bureij. AP -
A satellite picture showing the Rafah border crossing to Egypt. AFP -
People gather in Tel Aviv for a candlelit vigil to mark the one-month anniversary of the October 7 deadly attack by Hamas militants on Israel. Reuters -
Doris Liber, whose son Guy Iluz is being held hostage in Gaza, during a press conference with House Republicans at the Capitol in Washington. AP -
Palestinians flee to the southern Gaza Strip on Salah al-Din Street in Bureij. AP -
Mourners attend the funeral of four Palestinians killed by Israeli troops at Tulkarm refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank. EPA
