Senior Arab and European diplomats in Riyadh for talks on the war in Gaza – Telquel.ma

LThe World Economic Forum opens on Sunday in Riyadh, in the presence of the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey, according to the program of the meeting.

On Monday, the new Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Sigrid Kaag, the United Nations aid coordinator for Gaza, will gather at a session dedicated to Gaza.

French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné is among European officials to travel to the Saudi capital during the summit for talks on the war, which was sparked by Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.

“Talks with their European, American and regional colleagues about Gaza and the regional situation are planned in Riyadh“, a diplomatic source said on Friday.

The goals of the head of French diplomacy are, in particular, to work on the release of hostages captured during the Hamas attack and to achieve a permanent ceasefire, his spokesman Christophe Lemoine pointed out.

The French minister will then visit Israel and the Palestinian territories and plans to “let us repeat to the Israelis our firm opposition to the Rafah offensive” Lemoine said, referring to the city in southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge, and which is threatened by an Israeli offensive aimed at wiping out the last bastion of Hamas.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is due to arrive on Monday to meet with Kaag and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, her Emirati counterpart, ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer said.

“The visit will aim to work on many focal points of the Middle East crisis, on de-escalation and progress towards a peaceful future.Fischer added to reporters on Friday. “As you all know, the Gulf states also have an important role to play here“, he emphasized.

Saudi Arabia’s neighbor, Qatar, is home to Hamas’ political office and has brokered talks that have so far failed to secure a permanent ceasefire and the release of many hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attack.

For its part, Saudi Arabia suspended normalization talks with Israel after the outbreak of war on October 7.

More than 250 people were abducted and 129 remain trapped in Gaza, 34 of whom have died according to Israeli officials. Israel’s military response, which vowed to crush the Palestinian Islamist movement, left 34,356 dead, mostly civilians, according to Hamas.