LONDON: Saudi Arabia and Italy on Thursday “unequivocally rejected” the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, as Israel ramped up its bombardment of Gaza City.
“The principles of non-transfer and non-expulsion must be fully upheld,” they said in a statement posted by the Saudi Foreign Ministry on social media platform X.
Earlier, the Israeli military warned that an evacuation of Gaza City was “inevitable” amid an onslaught designed to destroy the remaining Hamas stronghold.
Families fled attacks in the city’s suburbs on Thursday, the latest displacements in a conflict that has already forced most of the 2 million people living in Gaza to flee at least once.
The joint declaration by Saudi Arabia and Italy came after talks in Rome between the Kingdom’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and his Italian counterpart, Antonio Tajani.
It called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza “in line with our joint commitment to achieve a just, secure, comprehensive and sustainable peace in the Middle East.”
Both countries demanded the immediate release of all hostages, and condemned any “unilateral or violent actions in the West Bank that undermine the two-state solution.”
They added: “We call for unfettered access for humanitarian assistance and life-saving supplies throughout the Gaza Strip, as well as the release of all withheld Palestinian clearance revenues,” a reference to taxes collected by Israeli authorities on behalf of the Palestinian Authority that have yet to be handed over.
The statement continued: “We underscore that any postwar arrangements must be firmly linked to a clear, time-bound implementation of a political solution that ends the occupation and delivers a just and comprehensive peace.”
Speaking earlier, during a press conference in Rome, Prince Faisal condemned Israeli attacks in the occupied West Bank and said the Kingdom agreed with Italy on the important need to halt the war in Gaza.
Ahead of the prince’s visit, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni delivered a strong rebuke of Israel following the attack on a Gaza hospital on Monday in which at least 20 people were killed, including five journalists. She said Israel’s war had “gone beyond the principle of proportionality.”
During their meeting on Thursday, the Saudi and Italian foreign ministers also discussed ways in which economic and other relations between the two countries might be enhanced.
Tajani praised Saudi authorities for their efforts to encourage Russia and the US to align their perspectives in an effort to resolve the war in Ukraine, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
