Israel bombed the largest refugee camp in Gaza on Wednesday, resulting in the deaths of dozens of people, including a Hamas commander, according to Israel. Saudi Arabia strongly criticised this action.
Saudi condemns Israeli strike on camp: Israel claimed to have killed local battalion commander Ibrahim Biari on Tuesday by hitting a Hamas tunnel network beneath the heavily populated Jabalia camp. Israel claims Biari was complicit in the Hamas group’s October 7 attacks.
At least 47 bodies were seen being removed from the area by AFP. “In the strongest terms possible,” Saudi Arabia condemned the strike and the “inhumane targeting” of the refugee camp “by the Israeli occupation forces.”
The incident “caused the death and injury of a large number of innocent civilians,” according to the Saudi Arabian foreign ministry.
The Israel-Hamas conflict has recently shattered efforts to restore normalcy in Saudi Arabian-Israeli relations.
The United States was on the verge of mediating a deal that would have seen Saudi Arabia, the country that is home to the holiest places in Islam, recognise Israel for the first time prior to the Hamas group’s strikes.
Advocates of the agreement maintain that it had the potential to completely change the Middle East, given Israel’s historically weak diplomatic, trade, and security relations with its neighbours.
A person with knowledge of the process told AFP in October that Riyadh had made the decision to “pause discussion on possible normalisation.”
Israel has already received a warning from Saudi Arabia not to conduct any further ground operations in the Gaza Strip.
Additionally, Hamas carried out a series of cross-border assaults into Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 1,400 individuals, with the majority of them being Israeli civilians.
Furthermore, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, Israel’s retaliation strikes have killed over 8,500 Palestinians, further inflaming sentiment throughout the Arab world, including Saudi Arabia.