Beirut, 11 November 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Saudi Arabia is hosting an extraordinary joint Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh on Saturday to discuss the Israel-Hamas war that has been raging for over a month.

Originally, only the 22 members of the Arab League were to partake but the meeting was later expanded to include the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), an association of 57 mostly Muslim-majority states to which the Arab League countries belong.

The meeting will focus on the "Israeli aggression against Gaza," the Arab League said in a statement.

Leaders at the meeting will consult, coordinate and discuss ways to confront the Israeli escalations in the occupied Palestinian territories, it said.

The war started when the terrorist group Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, in a surprise attack on October 7. The group also took some 240 Israelis hostage and is holding them in Gaza.

Israel responded with a near-constant aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip and then launched a ground campaign. The Hamas-run Health Ministry says more than 11,000 people have died, most of them civilians.

One notable participant at the talks will be Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who is travelling to Saudi Arabia for the first time since the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the two Middle East power players.

The foreign ministers of the Arab League in a preparation meeting on Thursday condemned "the Israeli occupation and its aggression against the Gaza Strip" and demanded that the country "be held accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people."

The Arab foreign ministers also called for "an immediate halt to the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians ... and to provide all forms of support to Palestine and its people."

The foreign ministers had already called for an immediate halt to the Israeli attacks on Gaza at a meeting in Cairo shortly after the start of the war on October 7. Saudi Arabia is the current chair of the league.

Before his departure from Iran on Saturday, Raisi called for an immediate end to the bombing of Gaza and for more humanitarian aid to be organized for the civilian population.

"What is currently happening in Gaza is a crime against humanity and a genocide," he said at Tehran airport, according to the IRNA news agency. "We expect a clear practical decision from the Islamic world at the OIC summit and not verbal promises.

In March, Saudi Arabia and its regional rival Iran, who supported opposing sides of the conflicts in Yemen and Syria, agreed in a China-brokered deal to restore their ties after a rupture of seven years.

Iranian leaders have repeatedly reaffirmed their unreserved support of Hamas, but has vehemently denied direct involvement in the war.

Also in Riyadh on Saturday is German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock for meetings with the prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.

In Israel, Baerbock wants to hold talks with Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and opposition leader Yair Lapid. A meeting with a representative of the Palestinian Authority is also planned.

Baerbock's trip will focus on the situation of the Hamas hostages, the humanitarian situation of civilians in the Gaza Strip and a possible future peace through a two-state solution, her office said.

Photo: EPA