World has failed Gaza, Saudi FM tells leaders at economic summit

Saudi Arabia on Sunday said the international community has failed Gaza and reiterated its call for a Palestinian state at a global economic summit attended by a host of mediators.

"The situation in Gaza obviously is a catastrophe by every measure —humanitarian, but also a complete failing of the existing political system to deal with that crisis," Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan said during the first day of a Saudi-hosted World Economic Forum special meeting.

Only "a credible, irreversible path to a Palestinian state" will prevent the world from confronting "this same situation two, three, four years down the line," he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Palestinian leaders and high-ranking officials from other countries trying to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are attending the summit in Riyadh, capital of the world's biggest crude oil exporter.

The war in Gaza, which has sent regional tensions soaring, began on October 7.

That resulted in the deaths of about 1,170 people, mostly Israeli civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel estimates that 129 hostages seized by Hamas on October 7 are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.

Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,454 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Speaking in Riyadh, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said the United States "is the only country capable" of preventing Israel's long-feared invasion of Rafah city in southern Gaza.

"We appeal to the United States of America to ask Israel to stop the Rafah operation," he said, warning it would harm and displace civilians, and be "the biggest disaster in the history of the Palestinian people."

Earlier Sunday, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan called for regional "stability", warning of the effects of the war on global economic sentiment.

"I think cool-headed countries and leaders and people need to prevail," Jadaan said.

Agence France-Presse

Diplomatic efforts to reach a long sought-after truce and hostage-release deal in Gaza appeared to intensify, as Hamas said it would respond to Israel's latest proposal on Monday.

WEF president Borge Brende said Saturday there was "some new momentum now in the talks around the hostages, and also for... a possible way out of the impasse we are faced with in Gaza".