RIYADH

Saudi King Salman on Sunday called for halting “heinous crimes” in the Gaza Strip amid the deadly five-month Israeli offensive on the Palestinian enclave.

Saudi Arabia is set to observe the first day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan on Monday.

“It pains us that Ramadan comes this year amid attacks on our brothers in Palestine,” Salman, 88, said in a speech read out by Information Minister Salman al-Dosari.

The Saudi monarch called on the international community “to fulfill its responsibilities to stop these brutal crimes and provide safe humanitarian and relief corridors."

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Hamas in which some 1,200 people were killed.

Nearly 31,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 72,500 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala