Arab and Muslim leaders on Saturday condemned Israeli forces’ “barbaric” actions in Gaza but declined to approve punitive economic and political steps against the country over its war against Hamas.

The outcome of a joint summit in the Saudi capital of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation highlighted regional divisions over how to respond to the war even as fears mount that it could draw in other countries.

The summit took place against a backdrop of widespread anger in the Middle East and beyond over Israel’s aerial and ground offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 11,000 people, mostly civilians and many of them children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Israel says it has set out to destroy Hamas following the group’s bloody October 7 attacks that Israeli officials say killed about 1,200 people, also mostly civilians, and saw about 240 taken hostage. 

The final declaration on Saturday rejected Israeli claims that it is acting in “self-defence” and demanded that the United Nations Security Council adopt “a decisive and binding resolution” to halt Israel’s “aggression”. 

It also called for an end to weapons sales to Israel and dismissed out of hand any future political resolution to the conflict that would keep Gaza separate from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who before the war was considering establishing formal diplomatic ties with Israel, told the summit he “holds the occupation (Israeli) authorities responsible for the crimes committed against the Palestinian people.” 

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, on his first trip to Saudi Arabia since the two countries mended ties in March, said Islamic nations should designate the Israeli army a “terrorist organisation” for its conduct in Gaza. 

Israel blames Hamas for the high death count, accusing it of using civilians as “human shields” — a charge Hamas denies.

Regional divisions

The Arab League and the OIC, a 57-member bloc that includes Iran, were originally meant to meet separately. 

Arab diplomats told AFP the decision to merge the meetings came after Arab League delegations failed to reach an agreement on a final statement. 

Some countries, including Algeria and Lebanon, proposed responding to the devastation in Gaza by threatening to disrupt oil supplies to Israel and its allies as well as severing the economic and diplomatic ties that some Arab League nations have with Israel, the diplomats said. 

However, at least three countries — including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which normalised ties with Israel in 2020 — rejected the proposal, according to the diplomats who spoke on condition on anonymity. 

In a statement issued from Gaza, Hamas called on summit participants to expel Israeli ambassadors, form a legal commission to try “Israeli war criminals” and create a reconstruction fund for the territory. 

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said a lack of concrete punitive measures against Israel would render the summit toothless. 

“If we do not have real tools for pressure, then any step we take or speech we give will have no meaning,” said Assad, who was welcomed back into the Arab fold this year after an extended rift over his country’s civil war. 

He said no Middle Eastern country should engage in any “political process” with Israel, including developing economic relations, until a lasting ceasefire is reached. 

The lack of consensus was no big surprise, said Rabha Saif Allam, a specialist in Middle Eastern affairs at the Cairo Center for Strategic Studies. 

Differences between Washington’s Arab allies and countries closer to Iran “can’t be erased overnight,” Allam said.

Israel and its main backer the United States have so far rebuffed demands for a ceasefire, a position that drew heavy criticism on Saturday. 

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said “it is a shame that Western countries, which always talk about human rights and freedoms, remain silent in the face of the ongoing massacres in Palestine”.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the Saudi foreign minister, similarly decried “double standards” in the world’s response to the war, saying Israel was getting a pass on violations of international law. 

Iran president in Riyadh

Raisi’s stop in Riyadh made him the first Iranian president to set foot in Saudi Arabia since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attended an OIC meeting in the kingdom in 2012. 

In addition to addressing the summit, he held a face-to-face meeting with Prince Mohammed, Saudi state media said on X, formerly Twitter. 

Iran backs Hamas as well as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Huthi rebels, placing it at the centre of concerns the war could expand. 

The conflict has already fuelled cross-border exchanges between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, and the Huthis have claimed responsibility for “ballistic missiles” the rebels said targeted southern Israel.

In his second visit to Telangana in less than a week, ahead of the Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made a strong outreach to the Dalit community, particularly the Madigas, who make up 60 per cent of the Scheduled Caste community in the state. PM Modi announced the formation of a committee to empower Madigas and look into the sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes, which has been a three-decade-old demand of the community.

The promise is significant because the Madigas can decisively influence the outcome in 20-25 seats in the 119-strong Telangana assembly, where the number needed for a majority is 60. 

The Prime Minister was speaking at a rally in Secunderabad organised by the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi, whose founder, Manda Krishna Madiga, broke down when PM Modi said he supports him and his cause. The PM was seen consoling the leader, who later announced his organisation’s support for Narendra Modi and the BJP.

The PM also hit out at the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the Congress, accusing them of being anti-Dalit.

Committee To Be Formed

“We are committed to ending this injustice at the earliest. It is our promise that we will soon constitute a committee that will adopt all possible ways to empower you (the Madiga community). You and we also know that a big legal process is going on in the Supreme Court. We consider your struggle to be just,” the PM said.

“We will ensure justice. It is the top priority of the Government of India to see to it that you get justice in court also. With full strength, the Government of India will stand in favour of justice as your colleague,” he added.

The Prime Minister repeatedly emphasised the need for equitable welfare and social justice

It was at this point that Manda Krishna Madiga got emotional and broke into tears, and the PM was later seen consoling him, holding his hands.

In a post on X, the PM said, “Today’s public meeting will remain etched in my memory. The affection from my Dalit sisters and brothers, my Madiga sisters and brothers is tremendous. I salute my brother Manda Krishna Madiga for his efforts towards empowering people.”

Thank you Hyderabad.

Today’s public meeting will remain etched in my memory. The affection from my Dalit sisters and brothers, my Madiga sisters and brothers is tremendous.

I salute my brother Manda Krishna Madiga for his efforts towards empowering people.

Some glimpses… pic.twitter.com/OLrXlkIOEK

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 11, 2023

Attacks on Congress, BRS

PM Modi also attacked the Congress party, saying it did not allow the architect of India’s Constitution, BR Ambedkar, to win elections twice. 

He also said that the Congress had not honoured Ambedkar with the Bharat Ratna and India’s highest civilian honour was conferred on him only in 1990, after a BJP-supported government was formed at the Centre.

“The Congress did not allow Babasaheb Ambedkar to win twice. For decades, it ensured that Babasaheb’s portrait was not put up in the old Parliament’s Central Hall. He was not given the Bharat Ratna for decades because of the Congress,” he alleged.

The Prime Minister did not spare the BRS either. He said that during the agitation for a separate state of Telangana, which was formed in 2014, the party had promised to make a Dalit the chief minister. But Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had “encroached” on the chair after crushing the aspirations of every Dalit, he alleged. 

“BRS is anti-Dalit and the Congress is no less than that,” he said.

The PM added that political parties and leaders had made promises to Madigas and betrayed them. “I am apologising for their sins,” he said.

Poll Strategy

The PM’s last visit to Telangana was on November 7, when he had addressed an Other Backward Classes gathering. The choice of events suggests that the BJP is trying to consolidate the OBC and SC/ST votes in Telangana, where the BRS has been in power since its formation.

Dalits comprise 17 per cent of the population in Telangana and Madigas account for nearly 60 per cent of the community.

Critics questioned the announcement of a committee to look into sub-categorisation, pointing out that the BJP had promised it would do so within 100 days of coming to power.

They also pointed out that multiple commissions have studied the issue and given their recommendations.

Telangana will vote on November 30 and the counting will take place on December 3.

(With inputs from PTI)

A 28-year-old man, an employee of a private bank, allegedly died by suicide by jumping off the Bandra-Worli Sea Link here, police said on Saturday. He was identified as Akash Singh, a resident of Parel in central Mumbai.

On Friday night, he boarded a taxi to go from Bandra-Kurla Complex to Parel but then asked the driver to take him to the Sea Link, said an official of Worli police.

While on the bridge, Singh, who was talking on the phone, suddenly claimed that his mobile phone had fallen out, the official said.

When the driver pulled over to the side, Singh got down and jumped into the sea, he said.

His body was fished out later in the night, the official added.

As per a preliminary probe, Singh, who lived with his parents, had had a break-up with his girlfriend three months ago.

Further probe is on.