Arab and Muslim ministers in Beijing urge end to Gaza war
Arab and Muslim country ministers called on Monday for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as their delegation visited China on the first leg of a tour to push for an end to hostilities and to allow humanitarian aid into the devastated Palestinian enclave.
The delegation, which is set to meet officials representing each of the 5 permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, is also piling pressure on the West to reject Israel's justification of its actions against Palestinians as self-defence.
The officials holding meetings with China's top diplomat Wang Yi on Monday are from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Indonesia, Palestine and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, among others.
'We are here to send a clear signal: that is we must immediately stop the fighting and the killings, we must immediately deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza,' said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.
The extraordinary joint Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh this month also urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate 'war crimes and crimes against humanity that Israel is committing' in the Palestinian territories.
Saudi Arabia has sought to press the United States and Israel for an end to hostilities in Gaza, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler, gathered Arab and Muslim leaders to reinforce that message.
About 240 hostages were taken during Hamas's deadly cross-border rampage into Israel on October 7, which prompted Israel to invade the Gaza Strip with the intention of eradicating the resistance group.
Gaza's Hamas-run government said at least 13,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombardments since then, including at least 5,500 children.
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