Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal addresses a news conference following a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), on the situation in the Gaza Strip, in Jeddah
Reuters/Jeddah
Saudi Arabia told Israel on Tuesday that it must reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians if it is to survive as a nation, and criticised Muslims for being divided and failing to stop the Jewish state attacking its Arab neighbours.
"Israel has to realize that peace is the only solution for its survival," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the world's largest Muslim body, on the situation in the Gaza Strip.
"As we see, Israel does not shy away from taking its terror to any level, with total disregard to any laws, rules, religious edicts or humanitarian considerations to achieve its goals.
"Its only objective is to uproot the Palestinian existence wherever it is," Prince Saud told the meeting in Jeddah, attended by Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and ministers from the 56-member OIC.
Saudi Arabia, which regards itself as a leader of the Sunni Muslim world, has played only a background role in the diplomacy to end the fighting in Gaza, leaving its ally Egypt as the main Arab player pursuing a ceasefire - in its second day on Tuesday.
The veteran foreign minister also rejected Western backing of Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas rockets.
"Israel does not have a right of self-defence as an occupier. There is no rule under international law that says an occupier has a right of self-defence. For any country to take that position shows bad intentions towards the region and bad intentions towards peace in the region," Prince Saud told a news conference after the OIC meeting.
"I don't think it's fair to equate the actions of Hamas and Israel, either in scale or in substance. How can you say that Israel has a right to defend itself when it is the occupier and you do not give the same right to Hamas?"
"Would it have been possible for Israel to carry out an aggression after another, had the Islamic nation been united?" Prince Saud said.
"What tempts Israel to commit its continuous crimes against the Palestinian people and Muslims as a whole is the weakness it sees in the Muslim nation due to fragmentation and divisions and the spread of sedition within it."
