ISTANBUL
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed efforts to halt Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
A Saudi Foreign Ministry readout said the two leaders discussed over the phone regional developments, topped by the resumption of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and efforts to halt these attacks and protect civilians.
The Saudi state news agency said the discussions also took up several topics of common interest, without giving more details.
Macron, for his part, condemned the resumption of Israeli strikes on Gaza.
“A return to the ceasefire is essential for the release of all hostages and the protection of civilians,” he said on X.
The French leader welcomed the work carried out by Saudi Arabia with its Arab partners “on a credible framework for the day after in Gaza, which must serve as the basis for discussions.”
“We will work together to reopen a much-needed political horizon. The conference on the two-state solution, which we will co-chair, must help revive a political perspective for both Israelis and Palestinians,” he added.
More than 700 Palestinians were killed and over 900 others injured in renewed Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since Tuesday, shattering a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.
Nearly 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 112,000 injured in a brutal Israeli military campaign in Gaza since October 2023.
In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.