MBS vows continued efforts for Gaza de-escalation

The crown prince, in meeting with Palestinian president, stressed that the Kingdom will continue its efforts to communicate with all international and regional parties to stop the escalation in the war-torn territory….reports Asian Lite news

Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman discussed the situation in Gaza with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting in Riyadh.

The Crown Prince stressed that the Kingdom will continue its efforts to communicate with all international and regional parties to stop the escalation in the war-torn territory.

He also reiterated Saudi Arabia’s unwavering support for the Palestinian people to achieve their legitimate rights to a decent life, fulfil their hopes and aspirations, and achieve just and lasting peace.

Saudi and Palestinian senior officials attended the meeting. They include Saudi Minister of Defence Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz; Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah; President of the General Intelligence Khalid bin Ali Al-Humaidan; and the Saudi Ambassador to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, who also serves as non-resident Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the State of Palestine Naif bin Bandar Al-Sudairy.

Egypt, Iraq leaders meet

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has received Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani, who is on an official visit to Egypt with a high-level Iraqi delegation.

The Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency said the two sides exchanged views on ways to help the region overcome the serious crises it is facing, which threaten its stability and capabilities.

The two leaders stressed the need for the international community to exert intensive pressure to complete the calm and ceasefire agreement in Gaza, stressing the need to end the humanitarian plight in the Strip and stop the ongoing Israeli escalation in the West Bank. This is in addition to the need to launch a serious political track that guarantees the Palestinian people their legitimate and just right to an independent state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, being the sustainable way to establish peace, security and development in the region.

The two leaders agreed that the current circumstances require intensified joint Arab action, bilaterally and collectively, noting in this regard the tripartite cooperation among Egypt, Iraq and Jordan, and affirming continuing to work to make their projects succeed and achieve their objectives to serve as a model for Arab cooperation and regional integration.

Peace talks in Doha to continue

The ongoing indirect peace talks will continue on Wednesday in Doha, confirmed the office of the Israel Prime Minister but gave no details on the members of the delegation. 

According to reports in the media, Israel will be represented by lower-level officials drawn from Mossad and Shin Bet.

The Doha meeting succeeded the Cairo peace talks wherein Israel struck to its stand on the continuation of its troops in the Philadelphi Corridor and Natzrem Corridor.

It may be recalled that in the previous round of talks at Doha and Cairo, the Israeli delegation was represented by David Barnea, head of Mossad and Ronen Bar, the Director of Shin Bet.

The indirect peace talks in Cairo on Sunday ended with neither Israel nor Hamas agreeing to several compromises presented by mediators who are attempting to bridge the gaps between the two sides.

According to Arab media reports, the Israeli delegation will continue talks with the US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators with the aim of bridging the remaining gaps in the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby in a statement on Tuesday said that discussions would be held at the “working-group level” over the coming days to iron out specific issues.

Kirby in the statement also said that talks have not broken down at Cairo and that they were constructive.

However, there are gaps between Hamas’ demands and those laid out by Israel.

Israeli media has reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held several meetings on the Cairo talks with Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, who both led the Israeli delegation.

It may be recalled that Hamas militants swarmed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, brutally killing 1,200 people, kidnapped 251 as hostages and took them to Gaza.

There have been strong protests by the Hostages and Missing Persons Forum in Israel to bring back the hostages that have brought Israel to the negotiating table. Presently 110 hostages are remaining in the custody of Hamas, and Israel has officially announced that of this 39 are dead.

After the back-to-back killings of Hezbollah military chief Fuad Shakr on July 30 in Beirut and the Hamas political head, Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, peace talks had derailed, but the US has taken the initiative to bring back the warring sides to the negotiating table for indirect peace talks. Qatar and Egypt are standing with the US to bring peace and have actively been part of the peace talks.

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