Saudi Arabia on Friday expressed its deep concern over the UN’s declaration of a famine in Gaza, the first in the Middle East.
UN experts said around 500,000 people in the enclave obliterated by Israel were facing “catastrophic” hunger.
In a statement carried by the Saudi Foreign Ministry, Riyadh also condemned the “genocidal crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces against defenseless civilians” in Gaza.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said this was entirely preventable and that food could not get through to the Palestinian territory “because of systematic obstruction by Israel.”
The Kingdom decried the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which it said was a direct result “of the absence of mechanisms to deter and hold accountable the repeated crimes of the Israeli occupation.”
#Statement | The Foreign Ministry expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's deep concern in light of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report and the official declaration of famine in the Gaza Strip. It also condemns the genocidal crimes committed by the…
— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) August 22, 2025
Saudi Arabia said this would “remain a stain” on the international community, particularly the permanent members of the UN Security Council, unless work was carried out to immediately end the famine and halt the war of “genocide and crimes” by Israel against Palestinians.
