News - Middle East: Muslim and Arab leaders have begun arriving in Saudi Arabia for a summit that will focus on Israel’s ongoing aggression in wars in Gaza and Lebanon. 

Attendees at the summit on Monday will “discuss the continued Israeli aggression on the Palestinian territories and the Lebanese Republic and the current developments in the region,” the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

On Sunday afternoon, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan chaired the preparatory ministerial meeting for the extraordinary Arab and Islamic summit ahead of Monday’s session.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi is among those attending the 57-nation bloc's meeting. 

Gharibabadi traveled to Saudi Arabia on Sunday to participate in the extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

In a letter to OIC Secretary-General Hussein Ibrahim Taha last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called for collective diplomatic efforts to stop the Israeli regime’s atrocities against the innocent people of Gaza and Lebanon, secure a ceasefire and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Araghchi also sent letters to his counterparts around the world on Thursday.

He pointed to the ongoing Israeli brutalities against ordinary people in Gaza and Lebanon, which have resulted in the death, injury and displacement of a large number of innocent individuals as well as international aid workers, and large-scale destruction of residential and public buildings.

The top Iranian diplomat stated that the criminal actions of the Zionist regime pose a serious threat to regional and global peace, and represent a clear example of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

The summit comes one year after a similar gathering of the OIC, during which leaders condemned Israeli actions in Gaza as “barbaric.”

The death toll from the US-Israeli more than a year-long genocide has now risen to over 43,600. 

Israel launched a ground assault and massive air campaign against Lebanon in late September after a year of exchanging fire across the Lebanese border in parallel with the Gaza war.

More than 3,100 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon over the last year, the vast majority in the past six weeks.

Press TV