Israel presses upcoming G20 summit on deadly Gaza war

ANKARA

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Sunday called a draft declaration of the Group of 20 meeting of top economies on its deadly war on the Gaza Strip “unbalanced and biased.”

In a statement on his X account, Saar said the final statement of the G20 summit must recognize what he called Israel’s right to defend itself and condemn Palestinian resistance group Hamas and Lebanese movement Hezbollah.

Israel has launched a brutal onslaught on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack last year, killing nearly 43,800 people, mostly women and children, and injuring over 103,600 others.

The conflict has spread to Lebanon, with Israel launching deadly strikes across the country in an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of the Gaza war. Nearly 3,500 people have since been killed and over 14,600 others injured.

Saar said he talked with his counterparts from the G20 countries to include in the final statement what he called “recognition of Israel’s right to defend itself,” demand the release of Israeli captives in Gaza, and condemn both Hamas and Hezbollah.

He warned that any other statement that does not address Israel's concerns "will harm the peace and security" of the region.

Leaders of the G20 group of largest economies will meet in Rio de Janeiro on Monday and Tuesday for their annual summit hosted by Brazil.

Despite international warnings that the Middle East region was on the brink of a regional war, Israel expanded the current conflict by launching a ground assault into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi