MANAMA, Bahrain

An annual Arab summit in Bahrain called Thursday for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and an international peace conference in the Middle East.

This came in a press conference held by Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit in Manama after the one-day summit.

Aboul-Gheit said the Manama Declaration includes “a call for a cease-fire in Gaza and an international peace conference in the Middle East.”

Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip dominated the agenda of the summit, which opened in the Bahraini capital early Thursday.

Israel continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in the enclave.

More than 35,200 Palestinians have since been killed, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and over 79,200 others injured since last October following a Hamas attack.

More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of “genocide” at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul