Monitoring Desk( WNAM):Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Saturday said that the Kingdom rejected the targeting of unarmed civilians “in any way,” according to a foreign ministry statement.
His comments came during separate phone calls with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell to discuss violence in Gaza, which broke out on Saturday morning.
The Palestinian Hamas group launched the biggest attack on Israel in years and the assault followed months of surging violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with fatalities in the occupied West Bank hitting a scale not seen in years.
The early morning Hamas offensive by air, land and sea was met by Israeli air strikes on the blockaded coastal enclave, in the bloodiest escalation with the Palestinians since May 2021.
Prince Faisal stressed the need to stop the escalation and for all parties to respect international humanitarian law.
He also called for “concerted efforts to calm the situation and avoid further violence,” the ministry said.
The Saudi minister also held separate calls with his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim, and his Egyptian and Jordanian counterparts, where he emphasised the need for a joint action plan.
Prior to these calls, Prince Faisal issued a statement urging an immediate cessation of hostilities and calling upon the international community to initiate a peace initiative aimed at achieving a sustainable two-state resolution.
