Saudi Arabia condemns Israeli strike on Gaza camp ‘in strongest terms’

GROUND WEEPS A man removes rubble from a victim’s leg amid the search for survivors in the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. Aid agencies warn time is running out for many of Gaza’s 2.4 million people denied access to food, water, fuel and medicine. —Reuters

RIYADH—Saudi Arabia on Wednesday roundly condemned a deadly Israeli bombing of Gaza’s largest refugee camp that killed dozens of people—including, Israel says, a Hamas commander.

Israel said it had targeted a Hamas tunnel complex under the densely populated Jabalia camp on Tuesday, killing local battalion commander Ibrahim Biari, who it believes was involved in the militant group’s Oct. 7 attacks.

Saudi Arabia denounced the strike “in the strongest terms possible,” decrying the “inhumane targeting” of the refugee camp “by the Israeli occupation forces.”

Nearing deal

The attack, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said, had “caused the death and injury of a large number of innocent civilians.”

The statement is the latest sign the Israel-Hamas war has fractured efforts to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Before the Hamas attacks, the United States had been close to brokering a deal that would have seen Saudi Arabia—home to Islam’s holiest sites—recognize Israel for the first time.

Supporters of the deal believe it could have transformed the Middle East, after decades in which Israel had very limited diplomatic, commercial and security ties with its neighbors.

In October, a source familiar with that process told AFP that Riyadh had decided to “pause discussion on possible normalization.”

Saudi Arabia had previously warned Israel against any further ground operations in the Gaza Strip.