The Saudi Foreign Ministry announced on Friday the merger of the Arab and Islamic summits into one joint summit to be held on Saturday in Riyadh to discuss the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

This came in a statement by the ministry hours before the Arab summit, coinciding with the continuation of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip for the 36th day, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The Saudi Foreign Ministry, which holds the rotating presidency of the two summits, said that "it was decided to hold an extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit, exceptionally, in Riyadh on Saturday." She noted that the summit would replace the "extraordinary Arab summit" and the "extraordinary Islamic summit" that were scheduled to be held on the same date.

She explained that the unification of the two summits "in response to the exceptional circumstances in Gaza, and after the consultation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation."

According to the statement, this merger comes "sensing from the leaders of all countries the importance of unifying efforts and coming up with a unified collective position that expresses the common Arab-Islamic will regarding the dangerous and unprecedented developments in Gaza and the Palestinian territories that require Arab and Islamic unity in confronting them and containing their repercussions."

#بيان | In response to the exceptional circumstances in Gaza, and after the consultation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, it was decided to hold an extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh on Saturday, 27 Rabi' al-Thani 1445 AH corresponding to November 11, 2023 AD pic.twitter.com/Ad7Vt2Nbvj

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🇸🇦 (@KSAMOFA) November 10, 2023

Emergency Arab Summit

A few days ago, Palestine and Saudi Arabia, in their capacity as the rotating presidency of the Arab League, called for an emergency Arab summit at the level of leaders on Gaza, followed by a call by the Kingdom for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to hold a similar meeting, as it chairs the current session as well.

On Friday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in a speech at the Saudi-African summit held in Riyadh, condemned "the military aggression in the Gaza Strip, the targeting of civilians, and the continued violations of international humanitarian law by the Israeli occupation authority."

For his part, the Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, held talks with the Saudi crown prince, on Friday at Al-Yamamah Palace in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on developments in Gaza, after meetings held Friday in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and in Abu Dhabi - last Thursday - with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

For 36 days, the Israeli army has been waging an air, land and sea war on Gaza "during which it destroyed residential neighborhoods on the heads of their inhabitants," killing 11078,4506 Palestinians, including 3027,678 children, 27,490 women and <> elderly, and wounding <>,<> people, according to official sources.