Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken discussed by phone the “strategic” partnership between their countries and cooperation in dealing with regional and global challenges, reported Al-Bilad on Thursday citing Saudi state TV.
Blinken ended a Middle East tour on Thursday aimed at shoring up a ceasefire that ended the worst fighting in years between Israel and Palestinian militants. He visited Jerusalem, Ramallah, Cairo and Amman.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken also spoke with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.
In both the phone calls, Blinken underscored the importance of bringing together international support for humanitarian and development efforts in Gaza, Price said.
But despite the US announcement to provide immediate disaster assistance to Gaza, the future for many civilians living in Gaza — which has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since 2007 — is bleak with little chance to step foot outside the area,” reported CNN. “Gaza has become the biggest open-air prison on earth”.
An Israeli fighter pilot who operated against Palestinian militants in Gaza this month has said all civilian deaths in the conflict ‘were tragic’.
‘Every civilian casualty is tragic’.
The New York Times published on Friday the faces and names of the 67 children killed in Gaza.
A Pakistan-Saudi virtual health platform is offering services of more than 100 women doctors living in North America, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Pakistan to Palestinian families in need for health assistance, Arab News reported.
The health system is “completely crushed,” a UAE-based analyst says.
The joint Pak-Saudi initiative comes as a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory has drawn worldwide attention.
