Arab leaders and Iran’s president are in the Saudi capital for summits expected to underscore demands that Israel’s offensive in Gaza end before the violence draws in other countries, AFP reports.

The emergency meetings of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation come after Israel’s aerial and ground offensive in retaliation to the Oct 7 Hamas attacks has killed more than 11,000 people, mostly civilians and many of them children.

The Arab League aims to demonstrate “how the Arabs will move on the international scene to stop the aggression, support Palestine and its people, condemn the Israeli occupation, and hold it accountable for its crimes”, the bloc’s assistant secretary-general, Hossam Zaki, said this week.

A united “diplomatic front… will generate diplomatic pressure from Arab and Muslim states,” said Saudi analyst Aziz Alghashian.

Criticism from regional leaders so far indicates “that this is not just about Israel-Palestine — this is about what is facilitating Israel to do this, which is basically the United States and the West”, he added.