Saudi FM calls for sanctions on Israeli officials over war on Gaza

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister is calling for sanctions to be imposed on Israeli officials over their country's violations of international law in Gaza.

Speaking at the 'Wars and shadow wars: What are Europe's options in the Middle East?' panel at the European Council on Foreign Relations meeting in Madrid, Prince Faisal bin Farhan stressed how the "basic principles" of international humanitarian law are being broken every day in Gaza.

He said it would be "very easy" for Europe to hold Israel to account, as more than 38,000 Palestinians are killed in Gaza.

"It would be very easy for Europe, in desire, to focus on humanitarian issues, to, at the very least, hold Israel accountable when it comes to whether or not it lives up to its responsibilities to allowing the civilian population of Gaza to have access to humanitarian needs," Farhan said.

"The majority of the international community agrees that the permanent and just solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the two-state solution, yet they stand idle in the face of matters that could undermine the two-state solution, such as Israel's continued expansion of settlement activities."

The foreign minister also chaired a meeting in April with ministers in Riyadh that discussed the developments in Gaza and stressed the importance of imposing sanctions on Israel.

The meeting was attended by dignitaries from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Arab League along with officials from Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Palestine, and Qatar.

Saudi Arabia has trodden lightly over Israel's war on Gaza in light of the kingdom's interest in Saudi-Israel normalisation, which has come to a halt.

Riyadh has never formally recognised the state of Israel but were discussing with Israel and Washington to normalise relations in exchange for a US defence pact and civilian nuclear programme.

The country's ambassador to the UK said in January that normalisation with Israel is "important" but it would not be at the expense of Palestinians.