Saudi Arabia and Pakistan call for ceasefire in Gaza

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan jointly called for a ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday, with Saudi Arabia urging a de-escalation of tensions in the region but making no mention of Iran’s recent attacks on Israel.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Monday led a high-level delegation to Islamabad on a two-day visit to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan.

At the end of a brief visit, Saudi Arabia spoke at a joint news conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, urging Israel and militant group Hamas to cease hostilities in Gaza, citing the rising Palestinian death toll.

“This situation is unacceptable. It is a complete failure of the international system. We must cease fire now,” Saudi Arabia said.

“The reality is that the international community is not living up to its responsibilities. We must do more to end the killings,” the Saudi foreign minister added.

According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, Israeli military operations aimed at eliminating Hamas have killed more than 33,000 Palestinians since October 7 last year. War broke out after Hamas attacked Israel, killing nearly 1,200 civilians and taking about 250 hostages.

Pakistan’s foreign minister said he had discussed the Gaza war with his visiting counterpart.

“We all agree that we need an immediate and unconditional ceasefire,” Dar said.

Without naming Israel, Pakistan’s foreign minister declared the situation in Gaza a genocide and called for accountability.

Both top diplomats urged unimpeded aid to the Palestinians.

According to ReliefWeb, a platform run by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, six months after the war broke out, 90% of Gazans were displaced and more than 500,000 people were on the verge of famine.

Neither official called for the release of the more than 100 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas.

Keep silent on Iran

Riyadh’s top diplomat called for de-escalation when it came to the regional impact of the war in Gaza, but stopped short of blaming Iran for launching a massive drone and missile attack on Israel over the weekend.

“Look, we are already in an unstable region. The humanitarian disaster in Gaza has added fuel to the fire in the region. We don’t need more conflicts in our region,” Saudi said.

Longtime rivals Riyadh and Tehran restored diplomatic ties last year. The China-brokered deal ends a seven-year rift between the two Muslim countries.

“Therefore, our position is that de-escalation must be everyone’s priority. When there are differences, they should be resolved through dialogue and not through the use of force,” Saudi added.

Iran’s attack, involving about 350 drones and missiles, was in response to Israel’s alleged attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria on April 1. The attack killed two Iranian generals and five other officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to Tehran.

Pakistan’s foreign minister also made no mention of Iran’s attacks on Israel.

However, he called for the establishment of a Palestinian state with pre-1967 borders and reiterated Pakistan’s diplomatic stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“It might also be good for Israel,” said Dahl, who mentioned the Jewish state only once in his speech.

No investment transaction

Pakistan presented a wide range of investment options to the visiting Saudi delegation, but no agreement was signed during the visit.

Members of the delegation include the Saudi Minister of Water and Agriculture, the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, the Assistant Minister of Investment and senior officials of the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

The Saudi visit follows a Pakistani delegation’s visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this month. During that visit, led by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the two sides agreed to expedite “the first wave of previously discussed investment plans worth $5 billion,” a Pakistani foreign ministry statement said.

Pakistani state media recently reported that Riyadh may invest $1 billion in the Reko Diq copper-gold mine project in restive Balochistan province. However, neither side reported any progress at a media briefing on Tuesday.

The Saudi team met with Pakistan’s president, prime minister and powerful army chief, who expressed optimism about future investment in the cash-strapped South Asian country and said his delegation was “very impressed” with the presentation it received.

Yet critics say Pakistan has in the past touted Saudi Arabia’s pledges of billions of dollars with little tangible results.