RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Cabinet on Tuesday expressed its absolute rejection of extremist and inflammatory Israeli statements and condemned continuous provocations against the feelings of Muslims around the world.
It called on the international community to put an end to the Palestinian humanitarian catastrophe, and to activate serious mechanisms to hold Israeli officials accountable for the ongoing violations of international laws, norms and resolutions.
On Monday, Israel’s hard-line Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said, in a radio interview, that he would back the establishment of a synagogue at Al-Aqsa mosque and to have Jews pray at the holy site in Jerusalem.
During the weekly Cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in Riyadh, the ministers tackled results of meetings held in Switzerland aiming to take concrete and immediate steps to alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people and achieve a permanent halting of hostilities.
Talks on the war in Sudan were co-hosted last week by Saudi Arabia and Switzerland, with the African Union, Egypt, the UAE and the UN completing the so-called Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan Group (ALPS).
The meetings ended Friday without a ceasefire but with progress on securing aid access on two key routes into a country facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
The Cabinet stressed that the Kingdom will continue to work with its partners in the international community until security and stability return to the African country.
On the domestic front, the ministers hailed the 10.5% increase in non-oil exports in the second quarter of this year, compared to the same period in 2023.
Saudi Arabia’s non-oil exports surged by 10.5 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024, led by outgoing shipments to the UAE and China, official data showed.
According to the General Authority for Statistics, of the SR51.16 billion ($13.63 billion) registered by the sector in the three months to the end of June, non-oil goods worth SR15.07 billion were sent to the Kingdom’s Gulf neighbor, with SR7.08 billion going to the Asian powerhouse.
The Cabinet also praised the success of the first Esports World Cup, which embodies the efforts made to enhance the Kingdom’s position as a global destination for major sporting events and activities.
On behalf of King Salman and following the meeting, the Crown Prince received newly-appointed Saudi ambassadors to various countries, who took oath of office.
