Riyadh summit shows the centrality of Palestine for the Middle East

Leaders of countries belonging to the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation attend an emergency summit in Riyadh at the weekend as war continues to rage in the Gaza Strip. AFP

The centrality of the Palestinian cause for the Middle East and the wider Muslim world was demonstrated at the weekend when dozens of national leaders met at an Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Co-operation emergency summit in Riyadh.

The expressions of support from the summit for the Palestinian people during this time of war and destruction in Gaza, as well as their wider struggle for justice and independence, were expected but welcome. However, a final communique contained some proposals that deserve closer scrutiny. Foremost among them was a joint call for an arms embargo on Israel that demanded all countries “stop exporting weapons and ammunition to the occupation authorities”.

Despite the broad nature of the demand, its target audience was the US. No country has supplied Israel with as much military aid – billions of dollars' worth annually – than successive administrations in Washington. There was a time when American economic and military support for Israel was conditional; Dwight D Eisenhower’s decision in 1956 to suspend American aid to Israel after the latter’s invasion of Egypt during the Suez Crisis now stands in stark contrast to the near-blanket US support offered to Israeli governments in recent decades, despite the documented injustices being perpetrated upon the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza.

In this latest conflict, US-supplied arms have been used defensively to counter Hamas rockets being fired from Gaza. However, arms and equipment obtained with US support are also being used in the relentless wave of indiscriminate collective punishment against Gaza’s 2.3 million people. An arms embargo, or at the least a review of the kind of weaponry being made available to Israel’s forces, would be a crucial step forward in limiting the country’s authorities to genuine self-defence and its ability to inflict misery on the Palestinians.

The fact that dozens of countries – many of which have security partnerships with US – are calling for an embargo is significant and should be heeded by Washington. In addition, the outside support that has helped Israel develop military superiority was unable to prevent the October 7 attacks by Hamas. Only a lasting political solution will bring such attacks to an end and guarantee security for all.

But before anything approaching such a settlement takes place, there will have to be accountability for the violence and death that have taken place since this latest cycle of violence began last month. This formed an important part of another demand to come from the emergency summit – a call for the International Criminal Court to complete its investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people in all the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem.

Establishing specialised legal monitoring units to document incidents that breach international law in Gaza would be a key step to preparing legal proceedings in the courts later. It is important to show the world that by methodically collecting evidence and pursuing the guilty through non-violent, legal, international means, justice can be served in ways that do not perpetuate the conflict.

Of course, reaching consensus among so many countries was never going to be easy, and there remain some key differences in approach among some of the summit’s participants. Nevertheless, there is a lot of common ground, and the proposals put forward that call for accountability and scrutiny in this war remain important. It is for those perpetuating this violence – directly or indirectly – to sit up and take notice.