No sign Israel making progress on achieving its goals in Gaza: Saudi Arabia

By Yaqut Dandashi

ISTANBUL (AA) – Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that there is no sign Israel is making progress towards achieving its goals in the Gaza Strip.

“We do not see signs that the Israeli goals in Gaza are close to being achieved,” Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos.​​​​​​​

“Our priority is to find a path to calm through real interaction in the region,” he said. “We must focus on reducing tensions through reaching a cease-fire in Gaza."

The top Saudi diplomat voiced concern over the growing tensions in the Red Sea and their impact on freedom of navigation.

“We must focus on the situation in Gaza because it affects the region and increases tension in the Red Sea,” he said.

“The ongoing suffering in Gaza will likely create never-ending cycles of violence,” bin Farhan warned.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 which Tel Aviv says killed 1,200 people.

At least 24,285 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 61,154 injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

According to the UN, 85% of the population of Gaza is already internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure is damaged or destroyed.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio