Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have made a joint statement, calling on the international community to pressure Israel to halt hostilities in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Riyadh and Islamabad made the statement after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hosted Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Mecca on Sunday.
Both parties called for international efforts “to halt Israeli military operations in Gaza, mitigate humanitarian impact and… pressure Israel to cease hostilities, adhere to international law, and facilitate unhindered humanitarian aid access to Gaza.”
The two leaders also called for “the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem (al-Quds) as its capital,” according to the statement.
In February, Saudi Arabia made it clear that the kingdom will not begin diplomatic relations with Israel before the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Saudi officials have repeatedly called for a halt to the Israeli campaign.
Yet even as anger ripples across the Muslim world after six months of bombardment, mass displacement and over 33,000 Palestinians killed, there is no sign of an end to the regime’s campaign in the besieged territory.
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas said on Monday no agreement is even close in the ceasefire talks underway in Cairo.
