Saudi Arabia condemns Israeli strike on its Gaza facility, urges UN action
Foreign Ministry says targeted Rafah center stored medical supplies, calls on Security Council to hold Israel accountable
FILE PHOTO
ISTANBUL
Saudi Arabia on Friday condemned an Israeli airstrike on a facility linked to the kingdom in Rafah, southern Gaza, and criticized Israel’s ongoing military escalation in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry said: “Israeli occupation forces targeted and destroyed a warehouse belonging to the Saudi Center for Culture and Heritage in the Morag area of Rafah, which contained medical supplies intended for the treatment of patients and the wounded in Gaza.”
The ministry also denounced “Israel's broader escalation, including the continued targeting of civilians and shelters, and the killing of dozens in areas such as the Dar Al-Arqam School in northeastern Gaza, which had been sheltering displaced people.”
The Palestinian Civil Defense said Thursday that 31 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed in the school attack. Six others remain missing and dozens were injured.
Riyadh criticized the international community’s “failure to deter Israeli violence and destruction,” adding that “the absence of robust accountability mechanisms has emboldened Israeli forces to continue violating international and humanitarian law.”
Saudi Arabia called on UN Security Council member states to “assume their responsibilities and help put an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people.”
A report Thursday by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said Israel has killed nearly 17,954 children in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023. The toll includes 274 newborns, 876 infants under 1 year old, 17 children who froze to death in displacement tents, and 52 who died from starvation and malnutrition.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Sunday to escalate attacks as efforts proceed to implement US President Donald Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza.
More than 50,600 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave since October 2023, most of them women and children.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its conduct in Gaza.
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