Bin Salman welcomes Iran’s Raisi, says Israel responsible for ‘crimes’ against Palestinians

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salaman welcomes Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi as Arab and Muslim leaders are in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, Saturday for a summit on the Israel-Hamas war.

This is Raisi’s first visit to Saudi Arabia since the bitter rivals reestablished ties several months back.

Iran backs Hamas as well as Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror groups and Yemen’s Huthi rebels, placing it at the center of concerns the war could expand.

Opening the summit, Bin Salman said Saudi Arabia “confirms that it holds the occupation (Israeli) authorities responsible for the crimes committed against the Palestinian people.”

“We are certain that the only way to guarantee security, peace and stability in the region is to end the occupation, siege and the settlements,” he says of Israel’s actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

The Saudis were edging closer to normalization with Israel before the outbreak of the war sparked by the deadly Hamas assault on southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians. Some 240 people were also taken hostage in Gaza.

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