Saudi Arabia hosts meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Gaza

By Abdusalam Fayez

RIYADH (AA) - Saudi Arabia hosted a meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Thursday to consult on developments in the Gaza Strip, which is under a devastating Israeli war, resulting in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.

“Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan receive Arab ministers participating in the consultative ministerial meeting on events in Gaza," the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post on X without providing further details.

The ministry shared images of the Saudi minister receiving his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi, Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and United Arab Emirates counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan in addition to the Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Hussein al-Sheikh.

It did not specify the timeframe for the start and end of the meeting, which came amid talks sponsored by Egypt, Qatar and the US to reach a deal between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas for a prisoner swap and cease-fire in Gaza.

Earlier in the day, Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Safadi would participate in the Arab ministerial consultative meeting hosted by bin Farhan to discuss developments in the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas in October, which Tel Aviv said killed nearly 1,200 people.

At least 27,840 Palestinians have since been killed and 67,317 injured in the ensuing Israeli onslaught, according to local health authorities.

About 85% of Gazans have been displaced by the Israeli offensive, while all of them are food insecure, according to the UN.

Hundreds of thousands of residents are living without shelter, and ⁠less than half of the aid trucks are entering the territory than before the start of the conflict.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala