DUBAI, November 11. /TASS/. Saudi Arabia will host an extraordinary summit of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Saturday, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter).

"In response to the unprecedented circumstances in Gaza, and after the consultation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the League of the Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, it was decided to hold a ‘Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit’ in an exceptional manner on November 11, 2023," the statement reads.

The Saudi capital of Riyadh was initially expected to host an emergency meeting of the Council of the Arab League on Saturday and an emergency OIC summit on Sunday.

According to the Saudi Foreign Ministry, the decision "comes as a sense from the leaders of all countries of the importance of uniting efforts and coming up with a unified collective position that expresses the common Arab-Islamic will on the dangerous and unprecedented developments in Gaza and the Palestinian territories are witnessing the require the unity of the Arab and Islamic ranks in confronting and containing their repercussions."

Syrian President Bashar Assad arrived in Riyadh on Friday. He will take part in an OIC summit for the first time since Syria’s membership was fully reinstated. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will visit Saudi Arabia for the first time since diplomatic relations between the two countries were restored in March.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again after Hamas militants infiltrated Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7. The Palestinian movement described its attack as a response to the actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out strikes on the Palestinian enclave, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.