Saudi Arabia told Israel on Tuesday that it must reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians if it is to survive as a nation, and criticised Muslims for being divided and failing to stop the Jewish state attacking its Arab neighbours. "Israel has to realise that peace is the only solution for its survival," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC), on the situation in the Gaza Strip.
"As we see, Israel does not shy away from taking its terror to any level, with total disregard to any laws, rules, religious edicts or humanitarian considerations to achieve its goals. "Its only objective is to uproot the Palestinian existence wherever it is," Prince Saud told the meeting in Jeddah, attended by Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and ministers from the 56-member OIC. The veteran foreign minister also rejected Western backing of Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas rockets. "Israel does not have a right of self-defence as an occupier. There is no rule under international law that says an occupier has a right of self-defence. For any country to take that position shows bad intentions towards the region and bad intentions towards peace in the region," Prince Saud told a news conference after the OIC meeting.
"I don't think it's fair to equate the actions of Hamas and Israel, either in scale or in substance. How can you say that Israel has a right to defend itself when it is the occupier and you do not give the same right to Hamas?" Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, say they are willing to make peace with Israel after it withdraws from all lands it occupied in the 1967 Middle east war. Hamas' founding charter calls for the destruction of Israel, but its leaders have said in recent years it could live peacefully alongside Israel if Palestinians get back land they lost in 1967.
Prince Saud said the country's development fund would "continue to abide by the kingdom's commitments" by contributing $500 million for Gaza's reconstruction. Offering 300 million Saudi riyals ($80 million) for medical relief aid, Prince Saud also called for support for Egyptian efforts to end the fighting, saying Muslim divisions had allowed Israel to repeatedly launch wars against Muslims.