Saudi Gazette report

CAIRO — Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir reiterated on Thursday that the Palestinian cause is Saudi Arabia’s first cause as it is the first cause of Arabs and that the Kingdom will not hesitate to support the Palestinians in restoring their legitimate rights. “This was confirmed by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman at the Jerusalem Summit held in Dhahran,” Jubeir said in his opening speech while chairing the extraordinary session of the Council of Arab Foreign Ministers.

While emphasizing the Kingdom’s rejection of the US decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem, he said that this step represents a significant bias against the historical and permanent rights of the Palestinian people in Jerusalem. “We are meeting today in the backdrop of the recent developments in the occupied Palestinian territories, targeting Palestinian civilians by the occupation forces and the shifting of US embassy to Jerusalem. The Kingdom has already warned of the serious consequences of this unjustified step as it offends the feelings of Muslims around the world,” he said.

Jubeir offered sincere condolences to the families of the martyrs, who were killed by the heinous crimes of Israel, and wished the wounded a speedy recovery.

The minister said that Saudi Arabia strongly condemns the targeting of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli occupation forces and stresses the need for the international community to shoulder its responsibilities to stop the violence and protect the Palestinian people. He reaffirmed the Kingdom’s steadfastness towards the Palestinian cause and its support for Palestinians in restoring their legitimate rights in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative.

Jubeir stressed that the meeting is of utmost importance because it comes after the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, and that this action is contrary to the international resolutions, the resolutions of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly, the most recent of which was the resolution of December 2017 which stipulated that “any decisions or actions aimed at changing the character, status or demographic composition of Jerusalem have no legal effect and are null and void.