Saudi Arabia renews call for halting Israeli onslaught on Gaza

By Ibrahim al-Khazen

RIYADH (AA) – Saudi Arabia renewed its call on Tuesday to halt Israel’s deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 25,500 people.

A Cabinet statement reiterated “the kingdom’s rejection of the Israeli aggression on Gaza and the necessity of an immediate cease-fire," the state-run news agency SPA reported.

It also called for the need “to allow the entry of humanitarian aid, prevent forced displacement of Palestinians and create conditions for the return of stability and establishing lasting and sustainable peace."

Israel has mounted a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas which Tel Aviv says killed 1,200 people.

At least 25,490 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 63,354 injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio