Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has issued a call for Israel to be held criminally liable for the crimes they are committing against the Palestinian people in a video that was recently released by Arab News.

In his remarks, he stated: “In this regard, we affirm our condemnation and categorical rejection of this barbaric war against our brothers in Palestine as it has claimed the lives of thousands of defenseless civilians, including children, women and elders, and destroyed hospitals, places of worship and infrastructure.”

He also drew attention to Saudi Arabia’s efforts to help protect civilians in Gaza and called on the international community to put an end to the fighting.

He reiterated the Kingdom’s stance, stating: “We demand once more that military operations be halted immediately, humanitarian corridors be provided to relieve civilians, and international humanitarian organizations be allowed to carry out their job.”

Israel accused of blocking aid from reaching Gaza

Israel has been widely criticized for preventing the people of Gaza from receiving desperately needed aid. A 17-page report by the U.S. Agency for International Development outlined multiple instances of Israel interfering with aid efforts. Some of its offenses included bombing hospitals and ambulances, killing aid workers and turning away trucks trying to bring in food to the people of Gaza.

This is happening at a time when the UN has declared a famine in some parts of Gaza, with nearly half of those living there dealing with hunger and dozens of children starving to death in figures that are believed to be an undercount.

A recent press release from the Norwegian Refugee Council reported that 83 percent of required food aid is not making its way into Gaza, where people have gone from an average of two meals per day to a single meal every other day and 50,000 children are at risk of needing treatment for malnutrition. Hygiene items, insulin and blood are also not reaching the population, and just 17 of the enclave’s 36 hospitals have any degree of functionality right now.

“We are facing a humanitarian disaster that displays the failure of the Security Council and the international community to put an end to Israel’s blatant violations of international laws and norms and international humanitarian law and demonstrates double standards and selectivity in their enforcement that threaten global security and stability,” bin Salman added.

Latest escalation in fighting is not helping Israel’s international reputation

Much of the world is worried about the recent escalation in fighting, with Israel taking out Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon and Iran responding with a full-fledged missile barrage.

Saudi Arabia’s Economy Minister Faisal al-Ibrahim said that the Kingdom is hoping to see a de-escalation of fighting and more productive dialogue. In a response to questions at a Berlin conference about the situation after the Iranian missile attack, he stated: “We hope that wisdom will prevail, de-escalation will happen, dialogue will come into place and more collaboration will be seen globally, but also regionally for us to address these challenges.”

Meanwhile, the Crown Prince also called for the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories to end and pushed for the state of Palestine to be recognized based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Prior to the war in Gaza, Saudi Arabia had been moving closer to normalizing relations with Israel, but Prince Faisal bin Farhan has since said that this will not take place without a credible path to a legitimate Palestinian state.

Sources for this article include:

ProPublica.org

NRC.no

Reuters.com