Dozens of leaders from Arab and Muslim countries gathered in Riyadh on Saturday (November 11) for a joint Islamic-Arab summit to discuss the Israel-Gaza war.

They called for an immediate end to military operations in Gaza and declared that Israel bears responsibility for "crimes" against Palestinians.

The Middle East has been on edge since Hamas fighters rampaged into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people.

Israel has escalated its assault on Gaza, where over 11,000 people had been killed as of Friday, 40% of them children, according to Palestinian officials.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, hosted the summit...

...as the kingdom has sought to exert its influence to press the United States and Israel for an end to hostilities in Gaza.

In an address to the summit, Prince Mohammed said the kingdom affirms its "condemnation and categorical rejection of this barbaric war against our brothers in Palestine".

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Palestinians are facing a "genocidal war" and called on the United States to end Israeli "aggression".

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi hailed the Palestinian group Hamas for its war against Israel and urged Islamic countries to impose oil and goods sanctions on Israel.

Raisi's trip to Saudi Arabia is the first by an Iranian head of state in more than a decade.

Tehran and Riyadh ended years of hostility under a Chinese-brokered deal in March.

The war has upended traditional Middle East alliances as Riyadh has engaged more closely with Iran.

It has pushed back against U.S. pressure to condemn Hamas and put on hold its plans to normalize ties with Israel.

Qatar, where several Hamas leaders are based, says it is seeking to mediate the release of Israeli hostages and hopes a humanitarian truce would be reached soon.

Hamas had called on the summit to take "a historic and decisive decision and move to stop the Zionist aggression immediately".

Arab foreign ministers were divided, however.

Some countries, led by Algeria, called for a complete cut in diplomatic ties with Israel, two delegates told Reuters.

Other Arab countries pushed back. Many have established diplomatic relations with Israel.

They stress the need to keep channels open with Netanyahu's government.