The leaders of Arab and Muslim countries on Saturday rejected Israel’s argument of “legitimate defense” in the Gaza Strip and demanded an immediate end to Israeli military operations in the Palestinian enclave.

The final communique of the summit of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation held in Riyadh states that the members of the two international organizations “refuse to characterize this war as legitimate defense or to justify him under any pretext”.

The summit condemned “Israel’s aggression in the Gaza Strip, war crimes and barbaric and inhumane massacres by the occupying government”. The communiqué calls for ending the siege of Gaza, allowing humanitarian aid to enter the enclave and stop arms exports to Israel.

The leaders also called on the UN Security Council to adopt one “decisive and binding resolution” so as to put an end to the Israeli “aggression” in Gaza. Anyone who refuses to support it “encourages Israel to continue its brutal attack that kills innocents (…) and turns Gaza into ruins.”