The Israeli army says it killed Mahmoud Fatair, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander, in a strike on central Gaza's Deir al-Balah area over the weekend. The army alleged, without providing evidence, that Fatair was involved in breaking into Israel and taking a hostage on 7 October 2023.
The strike coincided with a joint statement from the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and seven other Arab and Islamic nations expressing their strongest condemnation of ongoing Israeli violations in the Gaza Strip. The ministers singled out Israel's targeting of healthcare facilities and medical infrastructure, attacks on civilian infrastructure, and the continued loss of civilian lives, including women and children, calling them grave violations of international law.
The countries behind the statement are Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and Türkiye. The ministers said the violations constitute a clear breach of Israel's obligations under international law and the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict. They also undermine efforts to implement the second phase of the plan, especially after US President Donald Trump announced that Palestinian factions accepted the roadmap, including provisions on the confinement of weapons.
The Israeli move threatens to derail the political process, reignite the cycle of escalation and deepen the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, the statement said. The ministers stressed that protecting civilians, safeguarding medical facilities and personnel, and ensuring the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid throughout Gaza are legal obligations that must not be compromised.
They also condemned settler attacks in the occupied West Bank, the unlawful expansion of settlements and unilateral measures in occupied Jerusalem, describing these as a systematic policy to impose a fait accompli by force, undermine the two-state solution and marginalize Palestinian rights.
Calling on the international community and the UN Security Council to act, the ministers urged practical measures to compel Israel to fulfill its obligations under international law and Security Council Resolution 2803, and to hold those responsible for grave violations accountable. They rejected any annexation of occupied Palestinian territory, the imposition of Israeli sovereignty or the forcible displacement of Palestinians, and reaffirmed that the only path to a just and comprehensive peace is a political process leading to an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.