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Saudi Arabia Asserts Global Standing as Host of Gulf, Arab, Int’l Summits

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomes GCC leaders and representatives during the 18th consultative meeting of the leaders of the GCC & the Gulf summit with the central Asian countries C5, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 19, 2023. (SPA)
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomes GCC leaders and representatives during the 18th consultative meeting of the leaders of the GCC & the Gulf summit with the central Asian countries C5, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 19, 2023. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Asserts Global Standing as Host of Gulf, Arab, Int’l Summits

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomes GCC leaders and representatives during the 18th consultative meeting of the leaders of the GCC & the Gulf summit with the central Asian countries C5, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 19, 2023. (SPA)
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomes GCC leaders and representatives during the 18th consultative meeting of the leaders of the GCC & the Gulf summit with the central Asian countries C5, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 19, 2023. (SPA)

As the 18th Consultative Meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders and the Summit of the GCC and Central Asian States convened in Jeddah on Wednesday, Saudi Arabia logged another exceptional number to Gulf summits it has recently hosted.

This is in addition to the summits beyond the scope of the GCC, such as the Arab, Islamic, international, and emergency summits.

Since December 9, 2015, the Kingdom has hosted more than 15 Gulf summits, and today, with the convening of the 18th GCC Consultative Meeting and the Gulf-Central Asian Summit, the tally reaches an impressive 17.

These gatherings have varied in nature, ranging from regular summits to consultative meetings and emergency sessions.

Moreover, they have seen participation not only from GCC members but also from nations beyond the council’s borders.

Regardless of emergency summits or consultative meetings, Saudi Arabia has emerged as the leading Gulf nation in hosting regular Gulf summits, with a total of 43.

Out of these, Saudi Arabia has hosted 12, followed by Bahrain and Kuwait with seven each, Qatar and the UAE with six each and Oman with five..

In May 2017, the Saudi capital, Riyadh, hosted the “Arab-US Summit,” where leaders gathered to discuss efforts to combat terrorism and halt its funding and activities.

Following that historic event, the Kingdom went on to host five other notable Arab summits: the “Arab Dhahran Summit” in April 2018, the “Makkah Summit in Support of Jordan” in June 2018, the “Emergency Arab Makkah Summit” in May 2019, the “Arab-Chinese Summit” in December 2022, and the “Arab Jeddah Summit” in May of 2023.

Observers note that Saudi Arabia’s hosting of international and regional summits is not detached from the Kingdom’s drive to diversify its economy and engage with the world by hosting major events.

However, it also signifies the crucial strategic role the nation plays in its surroundings and the global arena.

Over the past decade, Saudi Arabia has actively taken on this role, partly through leading international and regional parties in finding solutions and discussing crises. Additionally, it has hosted events that involve active regional and international participants.

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War Reaches Lebanon's Far North After Rare, Deadly Israeli Strike

First responders and locals search at the site of an Israeli strike in Ain Yaacoub, Akkar region, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. - AFP
First responders and locals search at the site of an Israeli strike in Ain Yaacoub, Akkar region, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. - AFP
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War Reaches Lebanon's Far North After Rare, Deadly Israeli Strike

First responders and locals search at the site of an Israeli strike in Ain Yaacoub, Akkar region, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. - AFP
First responders and locals search at the site of an Israeli strike in Ain Yaacoub, Akkar region, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. - AFP

A day after Israeli warplanes flattened their building, Lebanese residents helped rescuers scour the rubble for survivors, still reeling from the rare strike in the country's far north.

The bombing killed at least eight people in Ain Yaacoub, one of the northernmost villages Israel has struck, far from Lebanon's war-ravaged southern border.

"They hit a building where more than 30 people lived without any evacuation warning," said Mustafa Hamza, who lives near the site of the strike. "It's an indescribable massacre."

Following Monday’s strike on Ain Yaacoub, residents joined rescuers, using bare hands to sift through dust and chunks of concrete, hoping to find survivors.

The health ministry said the death toll was expected to rise, AFP reported.

On the ground, people could be seen pulling body parts from the rubble in the morning, following a long night of search operations.

In near-darkness, rescuers had struggled to locate survivors, using mobile phone lights and car headlamps in a remote area where national grid power is scarce.

For years, Syrians fleeing war in their home country, along with more recently displaced Lebanese escaping Israeli strikes, sought refuge in the remote Akkar region near the Syrian border, once seen as a haven.

"The situation is dire. People are shocked," Hamza told AFP. "People from all over the region have come here to try to help recover the victims."

The village, inhabited mostly by Sunni Muslims and Christians, lies far from the strongholds of Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim movement.

A security source said Monday's air strike targeted a Hezbollah member who had relocated with his family to the building in Ain Yaacoub from south Lebanon.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said the strike was aimed at "a Hezbollah terrorist" and specified that the missile used sought to minimise civilian harm.

Local official Rony al-Hage told AFP that it was the northernmost Israeli attack since the full-blown Israel-Hezbollah war erupted in September.

After Israel ramped up its campaign of air raids, it also sent ground troops into south Lebanon.

"The people who were in my house were my uncle, his wife, and my sisters... A Syrian woman and her children who had been living here for 10 years, were also killed," said Hashem Hashem, the son of the building's owner.

His relatives had fled Israel's onslaught on south Lebanon seeking a safe haven in the Akkar region more than a month ago, he said.

The Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon has displaced at least 1.3 million people, nearly 900,000 of them inside the country, the United Nations migration agency says.

Israeli strikes outside Hezbollah strongholds have repeatedly targeted buildings where displaced civilians lived, with Lebanese security officials often telling AFP the targets were Hezbollah operatives.

On Sunday, Lebanon said an Israeli strike killed 23 people, including seven children, in the village of Almat -- a rare strike north of the capital.

Earlier this month, authorities said an Israeli strike on a residential building killed at least 20 people in Barja, a town south of Beirut that is outside Hezbollah's area of influence.

The war erupted after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges of fire, launched by Hezbollah in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas following their October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.

More than 3,240 people have been killed in Lebanon since the clashes began last year, according to the health ministry, with most of the deaths coming since late September.