November 10 and 11, 2023 saw Riyadh host emergency meetings engaging heads of state and government of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the League of Arab States (LAS) to discuss options for the war in Gaza.

The venues were initiated by the host country itself — the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with their forums represented by leaders and statesmen of all the 22 Arab and most other Muslim countries.

The summit has expectedly revealed major controversies among the Arabs as per how to respond to what is going on in the Palestinian Gaza Strip, preventing the attendants from developing and taking tough steps against Israel and its allies. The sides limited themselves to declarative accusations against Tel Aviv and Washington, decision to create a commission composed of several Arab foreign ministers to speak up for the enclave’s civilian population at the UN.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates rejected Algeria's proposals, which included:

— a ban on the use of American and other military bases in Arab states to provide Israel with weapons, ammunition or military equipment;

— frozen diplomatic, economic and military ties of the Arab world with Israel;

— a warning against the use of oil and gas supplies or other economic opportunities of the Arab League for leverage on Israel's allies to cease the aggression;

— a ban on flights of Israeli civil aviation aircraft over the Arab countries;

— creation of an Arab ministerial committee to urgently visit New York, Washington, Brussels, London, and Paris and demand an immediate end to Israeli aggression in Gaza.

As we can see, the last proposal alone has become part of the final resolution. Algeria’s ideas were endorsed by Palestine, Syria, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Iraq, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Yemen. The remaining Arab states cast a negative vote or refrained. The freshly minted ministerial council includes the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Palestine.

Notably, right after Riyadh forum results were made public, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement, which comes down to the Jewish state’s intent to keep fighting against the Gazan HAMAS movement till the total wipeout of its infrastructure and militants. At the same time, Israel is not going to conduct any cease-fire negotiations with anyone until HAMAS voluntarily releases all the Israeli hostages and soldiers captured. According to Netanyahu, his country will not comply with any international resolutions unless this requirement is fulfilled, along with tasks assigned to the army.

But let's get back to the meeting topic.

It is quite obvious that the split initiator as per making tough decisions about Israel and its Western allies was Saudi Arabia, given its fear of a looming regional conflict to stem from the local Palestinian-Israeli one, and the Kingdom’s engagement in it. After all, that country hosts several major US bases storing weapons and military equipment, with their airfields adapted to receive combat and other US and NATO aircraft.

Despite restored relations with Iran, the Saudis have been negotiating with the Americans diplomatic ties with Israel since August this year. Relevant documents were set to be signed this fall but the process was hampered by the Gaza developments.

One can only imagine what would have come with it. Assumingly, the US would retain its hegemonic clout in the Middle East, break off with Iran, and implement the White House's plan for the so-called "Middle East NATO" as represented by Washington-led GCC (Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf) member states.

All the OPEC+ decisions to limit oil output and supply would be compromised as well. Not to mention the Arabian Peninsula’s potential to turn from a powder keg into an American nuke storehouse.

Saudi leaders, as we’ve informed the audience earlier, is indifferent to both the fate of Gaza Palestinians and their prospects for creating an independent state, at least on the West Bank. The Saudis are sick and tired of feeding billions of dollars to a nation that has squandered territory over the years of its existence.

The situation in Gaza has thwarted Crown Prince Faisal's plans to retake the Kingdom’s unconditional lead in the Arab and Muslim world. Ultimately, its current Palestine stance may still come into play in the future.

Oddly enough, but the winner amid this entire landscape is Iran. But that’s quite a different story.