The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will host an urgent meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on October 18 at the OIC General Secretariat headquarters in Jeddah Governorate. The purpose of the meeting is to address the escalating military situation in Gaza.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia currently holds the chairmanship of the Islamic Summit’s current session, as stated in a press release from the OIC Secretariat in Jeddah. The OIC Executive Committee is convening an urgent open-ended extraordinary ministerial-level meeting to discuss the growing military situation in Gaza and the surrounding areas. This situation is coupled with deteriorating conditions that pose a threat to civilian lives, as well as the overall security and stability of the region.
Earlier reports highlighted that Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, which followed a deadly cross-border attack by Hamas, had resulted in a significant number of casualties, including 1,900 people, among them 614 children. The health ministry in Gaza also reported injuries to 7,696 individuals. Thousands of Palestinians sought refuge in southern Gaza after Israel called for the evacuation of over a million people from the northern part of the blockaded enclave in anticipation of a ground offensive.
The statement from Saudi Arabia expressed strong condemnation of the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and attacks on defenseless civilians. This represents the Kingdom’s most forceful criticism of Israel since the outbreak of the conflict. In addition to the tensions in the region, there have been global protests in support of the Palestinians, while Israel faces the threat of a separate confrontation with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The situation has prompted demonstrations in various countries, including Beirut, Iraq, Iran, and Jordan. The United Nations called for the evacuation order affecting nearly half of Gaza’s 2.4 million population to be rescinded, describing immediate movement as “impossible.”
