Gulf-ASEAN summit denounces attacks on Gaza civilians

FE Team | Published: October 20, 2023 21:48:04

RIYADH, Oct 20 (AFP/BBC): Gulf and Southeast Asian leaders on Friday condemned attacks on civilians in the Gaza Strip and called for a permanent ceasefire, according to a statement published after a summit meeting.
The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) also called for the release of some 200 hostages held by Hamas militants, as well as the restoration of basic services for Palestinians and the delivery of humanitarian aid, the statement said.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the Islamist militant group launched an unprecedented raid from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burned to death, according to Israeli officials.
Hamas gunmen also kidnapped nearly 200 hostages including foreigners from around two dozen countries ranging from Paraguay to Tanzania. The Israeli army said Friday that most of those being held "are alive".
In response, Israeli war planes have levelled entire city blocks in Gaza in preparation for a ground invasion. More than 3,785 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died in the bombing, according to the latest toll from the Hamas-run health ministry.
"As we gather, we are saddened by the escalating violence that Gaza is witnessing today, the price of which is being paid by innocent civilians," Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said as he opened the summit in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
UN chief visits Egypt's Rafah crossing
ahead of Gaza aid delivery
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on Friday to oversee preparations for the delivery of aid to the war-torn enclave.
Cargo planes and trucks have been bringing humanitarian aid to Rafah for days, but so far none has been delivered to the Gaza Strip, which Israel has besieged and bombed for 13 days.
"We are actively engaging with all the parties, with Egypt, Israel, the United States... in order to have these trucks moving as soon as possible," Guterres told journalists.
Israel launched the bombing campaign after Hamas gunmen stormed into Israel from Gaza on October 7 and killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.
Around 1,500 members of Hamas, an Iran-backed Islamist militant group, were killed in clashes before the army regained control of the area under attack, Israel says.
China's Middle East envoy
in Qatar for peace talks
China's Middle East envoy Zhai Jun was in Qatar, embarking on a Middle East visit that Beijing said Friday was part of a bid to "cool down" the Israel-Hamas war.
Zhai Jun met with Russian counterpart Mikhail Bogdanov as well as Qatari top diplomat Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi in the capital Doha on Thursday, the foreign ministry said.
Both meetings saw the diplomats exchange views on the conflict between "between Palestine and Israel", Beijing said.
The Chinese foreign ministry said the country would work with Russia "to cool down the situation as soon as possible, and to play a positive role in resuming the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks".
"The current situation between Palestine and Israel is at a critical point," Zhai told the Qatari foreign minister.
'Majority' of hostages in Gaza
are alive, say Israeli army
Most of the 200 or so people kidnapped in Israel by Hamas militants and taken to the Gaza Strip are still alive, the Israeli military said on Friday.
"The majority of the hostages are alive. There were also dead bodies that were taken... to the Gaza Strip," an army statement said.
The military said more than 20 hostages were children, while between 10 and 20 were over the age of 60.
There are also between 100 and 200 people considered missing since the Hamas attacks, the army added.
On October 7, the Palestinian militant group carried out a deadly assault on Israel, the worst in the country's 75-year history, killing more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death on the first day of the raid, according to Israeli officials.
Israel has responded with a relentless bombardment that has killed at least 3,785 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory.
Several dead and injured at Gaza church
compound after Israel's strike: Hamas
The Hamas-controlled interior ministry said several displaced people who had taken shelter at a church compound in the Gaza Strip have been killed and injured after an Israeli strike late Thursday.
The strike left a "large number of martyrs and injured" at the compound of the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church, the ministry said.
Witnesses told AFP the strike appeared to have been aimed at a target close to the place of worship where many Gaza residents had taken refuge as the war raged in the Palestinian enclave.