Egypt, Saudi Arabia call for Gaza cease-fire, end to Israeli military escalation in West Bank

By Ibrahim Khazen

CAIRO (AA) – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called Sunday for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and halting Israeli military escalation in the West Bank.

This came in a phone call the Egyptian leader received from the Saudi crown prince to discuss regional developments and means of bolstering joint Arab action.

The two leaders agreed on “the necessity of achieving an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and halting escalation in the West Bank to prevent an expansion of the conflict and restore stability to the region,” the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

Bin Salman, for his part, underlined the need to exert all Arab and Islamic efforts to halt the ongoing Israeli escalation and violations against the Palestinian people, the Saudi state news agency SPA reported.

Israel has continued a large-scale military operation in the northern West Bank, killing at least 26 Palestinians, arresting dozens, and inflicting huge financial losses on the territory.

The operation came as tensions remained high across the occupied West Bank amid a brutal Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 40,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7 last year.

At least 676 Palestinians have since been killed, nearly 5,600 injured and 10,400 others detained in the occupied territory, according to Palestinian figures.

The escalation follows a significant ruling by the International Court of Justice on July 19, which declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories unlawful and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala