Saudi Arabia confirms Gulf summit on Gaza
Leaders of the six oil-rich Gulf monarchies have agreed to meet Thursday in Riyadh for an emergency summit on the situation in the embattled Gaza Strip, Saudi officials said.
The summit, announced only late Wednesday night amid rival moves from Qatar to summon a meeting of Arab League leaders, will begin at 5:00 pm (1400 GMT), they said.
Leaders of the Saudi Arabia”s partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council — the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman — all have agreed to participate in the summit, the official SPA newsagency reported earlier.
Saudi King Abdullah called the summit due to escalating tensions "resulting from the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people," SPA said.
The the announcement came after Qatar pushed hard for an Arab League summit to be held on Friday, in defiance of regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which rejected the idea.
The competing moves underscored a division in the Arab world over how to respond to Israel”s brutal assault on Gaza, which has left more than 1,000 dead after 20 days of fighting.