Saudi foreign policy favors peace over escalation: FM

Arab News

September 30, 2018

Jeddah, Sept 30: Saudi foreign policy is based on consistent principles, including peacefully resolving disputes and preventing escalation, Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir told world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York. Countering Iran’s “subversive strategies” is an important part of solving the many conflicts plaguing the Middle East, he said.

“Our region has never been spared from the scourge of terrorist groups,” he added, outlining Tehran’s support for such groups. The Houthi militia in Yemen depends on Iran, which has provided ballistic missiles that have been fired at Saudi cities, Al-Jubeir said. Saudi Arabia will “continue to facilitate all humanitarian efforts to end the disaster plaguing the Yemeni people,” he said. “We have sought to support the Yemeni economy, including recently with the establishment of a $2 billion fund based at the Central Bank of Yemen.”

Terrorism and extremism are among the most important challenges facing the entire world, Al-Jubeir said.

“We renew our call… for intensifying international cooperation to eliminate all forms of terrorism and to drain its sources of funding, and to punish those who support it and feed its activities in any way,” he added.

The boycott of Qatar is necessary as the country supports terrorism, harbors extremists and allows hateful rhetoric through its media outlets, he said.

“Sovereignty is a red line,” he added, saying the Kingdom rejects interference in its internal affairs “from any country.”

“Saudi Arabia has taken care of the Syrian people, and fulfilled Syrians’ aspirations to live safely in their land and to reach a political solution in accordance with the principles of the Geneva Declaration,” Al-Jubeir added.

“The Kingdom has worked to unite the Syrian opposition so that it can negotiate with the regime to ensure the security and stability of Syria and its unity, and to prevent foreign interference,” he said.

Al-Jubeir reiterated the need to “resolve the Libyan crisis” and preserve the country’s “unity and territorial integrity.” He also reaffirmed the Kingdom’s support for the efforts of the UN and its envoy to Libya. “The Kingdom is one of the largest donor countries in the humanitarian and development fields,” Al-Jubeir said.

Its assistance amounts to 3.7 percent of Saudi gross domestic product (GDP), “surpassing the UN-proposed rate of 0.7 percent of GDP,” he added.

Al-Jubeir highlighted the Kingdom’s “sincere partnership with the world to have a prosperous present and a bright future, and for future generations to live in security, stability and peace.” He wished the UN “more success in achieving its lofty goals.”

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UN condemns Israeli regime’s ‘organized torture’ against Palestinians

News Network

November 30,2025

The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) has condemned the Israeli regime for enforcing a policy of “organized torture” against Palestinians.

In a report published on Friday, CAT stated that the occupying regime enforces a deliberate policy of “organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment” against Palestinian abductees, particularly since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza.

The committee expressed “deep concern over repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, water-boarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence” inflicted on Palestinians.

Palestinian prisoners were degraded by “being made to act like animals or being urinated on,” systematically denied medical care, and subjected to excessive restraints, “in some cases resulting in amputation,” the report added.

CAT also condemned the routine application of “unlawful combatants law” to justify the prolonged detention without trial of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children.

More than 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian and international human rights groups, with 3,474 Palestinians in “administrative detention,” meaning they are imprisoned without trial for indefinite periods.

The report highlighted the “high proportion of children who are currently detained without charge or on remand,” noting that while Israel sets the age of criminal responsibility at 12, even younger children have been abducted.

Children designated as security prisoners face severe restrictions on family contact, may be subjected to solitary confinement, and are denied access to education, in clear violation of international law.

The committee further suggested that Israel’s policies across the Occupied Territories constitute collective torture against the Palestinian population.

“A range of policies adopted by Israel in the course of its continued unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading living conditions for the Palestinian population,” the report said.

On Thursday, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas condemned the systematic killing and torture of Palestinian abductees in Israeli prisons, urging international action to halt these abuses.

Citing human rights data, Hamas stated that 94 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli prisons since the start of Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“This reflects an organized criminal approach that has turned these prisons into direct killing grounds to eliminate our people,” the resistance movement said.

Hamas called on the international community, the UN, and human rights organizations to immediately pressure Israel to end crimes against prisoners and uphold their rights as guaranteed by all international conventions and norms.

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