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Middle East conflict

Emergency summit of Arab League Council to be held on November 11 in Riyadh

According to the statement, the Arab leaders intend to "discuss the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip since October 7"

CAIRO, October 31. /TASS/. An emergency summit of the Council of the Arab League will be held in the Saudi capital on November 11, Assistant Secretary General Hossam Zaki said.

"The General Secretariat received a formal request from Palestine and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to hold an extraordinary meeting of the Arab League Council at the highest level under the leadership of Saudi Arabia <...> in Riyadh on November 11," the official said in a statement. As Zaki pointed out, the Arab leaders intend to "discuss the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip since October 7."

The official told Sky News Arabia that the Saudi and Palestinian versions of the memorandum were sent to the participants in the meeting. According to Zaki, there are differences between the Palestinian demands and the Saudi position. "It is proposed that the leaders discuss the general situation until the day of the meeting," he said, pointing out that "the main goal [the Council of the Arab League] is to prevent the war from causing more harm to the Palestinian citizens."

For his part, Palestinian Permanent Representative to the the Arab League Mohannad Aklouk told the MENA news agency that the summit "will send a message to the world community that Israel should not be above international law." According to him, Palestine expects "Arab brothers to share the responsibility with the Palestinian leadership and people at this difficult time when Palestinians are being subjected to genocide, forced displacement and ethnic cleansing."

On October 28, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Arab leaders to convene an emergency summit to "stop the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people."

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the radical Palestinian Hamas movement staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem. Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip as it has been delivering rocket attacks on Gaza as well as some districts in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are underway in the West Bank of the Jordan River as well.

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