Saudi Crown Prince Calls for Immediate Gaza, Lebanon Ceasefire at Arab Summit

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called for immediate ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon during a joint summit with the Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Monday, where leaders renewed support for a Palestinian state. This summit, held in Riyadh over a year into the Israel-Hamas conflict and broader regional tensions, offered a platform to signal the region’s priorities to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

Prince Mohammed opened the gathering by urging the global community to stop Israel’s actions in Gaza and Lebanon, calling Israel’s operations in Gaza “genocide.” He affirmed Saudi Arabia’s support for Palestinians and Lebanese in facing the humanitarian impact of these conflicts.

A draft resolution for the summit highlights strong backing for Palestinian “national rights,” with an emphasis on their right to freedom and a sovereign state. However, Israel’s new Foreign Minister Gideon Saar dismissed the idea of a Palestinian state as unrealistic, describing it as a potential “Hamas state.”

This summit follows a similar Riyadh meeting a year prior, where leaders condemned Israeli military actions in Gaza. The event also reflects the region’s stance toward Trump’s impending administration, as Gulf analyst Anna Jacobs noted that it provides regional leaders an opportunity to advocate for U.S. engagement focused on dialogue and de-escalation, specifically opposing Israeli military actions.

The Gaza conflict was ignited by Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on October 7 the previous year. Since then, Hezbollah in Lebanon, backed by Iran like Hamas, has also engaged Israel in cross-border attacks, which escalated when Israel intensified its operations in southern Lebanon in late September.

During his previous term, Trump supported Israel robustly, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, endorsing West Bank settlements, and facilitating the Abraham Accords, which established diplomatic ties between Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco. Saudi Arabia has yet to join these accords, holding that any formal recognition of Israel must be contingent upon establishing a Palestinian state.

While the summit brought together the OIC’s 57 members and the Arab League’s 22 countries, including those with and without formal relations with Israel, differences remain on measures such as economic or diplomatic actions against Israel.