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| Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) and Iran's President Ibrahim Raisi at the Arab League-OIC summit | Photo: Reuters |
Israel has no relationship with Kuwait among the GCC countries. Qatar, the dominant country in this alliance, is also vocal against Israel's aggression. The country blamed Israel for the October 7 incident. They support the pre-1967 territory with East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.
Qatar played the most effective role in ending the war after Israel attacked Gaza. Some of the hostages held by Hamas have been released through the mediation of the country. Among them are Israelis and foreign nationals.
On the other hand, Israel released Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. Israel ceases bombing Gaza for five days in compliance with the terms of the agreement. After this temporary truce, Israel is again bombarding continuously. In the face of the humanitarian crisis, the country is trying to implement a ceasefire in Gaza again. Qatar is communicating with the United States, Israel, and Hamas for this.
Israel does not have formal relations with Saudi Arabia and Oman. Israel has formal relations only with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
In view of Israel's attack on Gaza, Saudi Arabia organized the Arab-Islamic Conference on November 11. 22 countries of the Arab League and 57 countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) participated in it.
Leaders of Arab and Muslim countries condemned Israel's brutal attack on the Gaza Strip. At the same time, they called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. But they could not agree on any punitive economic or political measures against Israel.
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| Smoke billows from Gaza City after an Israeli missile attack | Photo: Reuters |
According to a report by the news agency AFP, according to diplomatic sources, at that meeting, some countries including Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Algeria proposed to stop oil exports to Israel and its allies. Apart from this, they proposed to Arab League countries to break diplomatic and economic relations with Israel.
Only Libya responded to this call. The country's Council of State announced severing ties with Israel and its allies. Besides, Libya also threatens not to supply oil to these countries. But the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain rejected this proposal. The two countries have maintained normal relations with Israel since 2020. Saudi Arabia, one of the most influential countries in the Middle East, has not given any strong message against Israel.
In 2022, the Houthis attacked the United Arab Emirates. Israel assisted the Emirates in investigating the incident. Since then, the friendship between the two countries has deepened. As a result, they could not take tough decisions against Israel.
For months, the United States had been pressuring Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel. In this regard, there was some progress in the diplomatic level discussions of the two sides. However, after October 7, Saudi Arabia backed away from this position.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Israel a terrorist state for the brutal attack on Gaza. He criticized the US and Israel's Western allies for supporting Israel's attack on Gaza.
Erdoğan said that there is 'no difference' between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. He recently made this comment at an event in Ankara, the capital of Turkey.
Jordan has withdrawn its ambassador from Israel due to the attack on Gaza. But other Arab countries, including Egypt, continue to maintain normal relations with Israel.