Riyadh to Host an Extraordinary Arab Islamic Summit With Attendants Including Iranian President Raisi

(Bloomberg) — Saudi Arabia announced a joint Arab Islamic extraordinary summit in Riyadh on Saturday, which will be attended by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the first time in more than a decade a sitting Iranian president is traveling to the kingdom.

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A further 30,000 people left areas in northern Gaza for the south on Friday while only 30 more aid trucks managed to cross the border from Egypt, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

French President Emmanuel Macron told the BBC there was “no justification” for the bombing of Gaza and urged a cease-fire. Israel revised down its death toll from the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that set off the latest crisis, putting the figure at about 1,200 against the earlier 1,400.

For more stories on the Israel-Hamas war, click here.

Iran’s Raisi Travels to Riyadh for Summit (9:40 a.m.)

Ebrahim Raisi traveled to Saudi Arabia to attend an extraordinary summit on the conflict in Gaza. It’s the first time in more than a decade that a sitting Iranian president is traveling to Saudi Arabia.

The meetings should lead to a “practical and actionable decision” to stop Israel’s bombing of Gaza and opening a crossing for humanitarian aid to civilians, Raisi said in televised statements before leaving Tehran.

Another 30,000 Left Northern Gaza: UN Agency (7:44 a.m.)

About 30,000 people left areas in northern Gaza to the south through a “corridor” opened by the Israeli military on Friday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement. There were several explosions along the “corridor” causing deaths and injuries, the agency said, citing initial reports.

LEAR Zelenskiy espera fijar la fecha de la cumbre de paz mundial en Suiza en los próximos días por Reuters.

Thirty trucks carrying aid for Gaza crossed over from Egypt on Friday, taking the total since Oct. 21 to 861, the agency said. “This is far below the quantities needed to meet the needs of over two million people besieged in Gaza,” OCHA said. The Egyptian border was closed Friday for the evacuation of foreign nationals and dual citizens, and injured people, the agency said.

Macron Says No Justification for Gaza Bombing (2:36 a.m.)

French President Emmanuel Macron told the BBC there was “no justification” for the bombing of Gaza and a cease-fire would be in the interests of Israel. He also condemned the actions of Hamas, which France considers a terror group, and said he hoped the US and UK would join France’s calls for a cease-fire.

“De facto – today, civilians are bombed – de facto,” the BBC reported him as saying in an interview in Paris. “These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed. So there is no reason for that and no legitimacy. So we do urge Israel to stop.”

Columbia, MIT Discipline Student Groups (1:28 a.m.)

A handful of US colleges, including Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have started to take action against pro-Palestinian protests deemed to be against school rules or hostile to Jewish students.

Columbia University on Friday temporarily suspended two student groups supporting the Palestinian cause that it said repeatedly violated university policy after an unauthorized event proceeded “despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation,” the Ivy League school said in a statement.

LEAR La SBU descubre presunta red de espionaje rusa en 3 óblastTranslation: La SBU descubre presunta red de espionaje rusa en 3 óblast

Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit Planned (1 a.m.)

A joint Arab Islamic extraordinary meeting will take place in Riyadh on Saturday and replace two existing summits planned for the same day, according to a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

“The decision came in realization of the leaders of member states of the need for unified efforts to come up with a collective Arab and Islamic position to address the dangerous and unprecedented developments witnessed in Gaza and the Palestinian territories and contain their repercussions.”

Biden, Sultan of Oman Discuss Gaza (11:43 p.m)

US President Joe Biden and Oman Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said emphasized the importance of deterring threats by any actor seeking to expand the current Israel-Hamas conflict and ensuring durable and sustained peace in the Middle East during their call today, the White House says in a statement.

Israel Revises Down Death Toll in Oct. 7 Attack (9:45 p.m.)

Israel’s Foreign Ministry revised down its death toll from the Oct. 7 attack to 1,200 from the 1,400 reported earlier, according to spokesman Lior Haiat.

The change came as Israel identified more of the bodies found after the attack and believes some of them belong to Hamas fighters, he told AFP.

More Needed to Protect Civilians: Blinken (7:51 p.m.)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stepped up pressure on Israel to do more to reduce civilian deaths in the assault on Gaza.

“Much more needs to be done to protect civilians and to make sure that humanitarian assistance reaches them,” he told reporters in New Delhi. “Far too many Palestinians have been killed.”

LEAR Líbano teme una nueva fase peligrosa en la lucha.

Earlier in the week, a senior US official said the death toll in Gaza may be higher than the figures cited by the Hamas-controlled health ministry there, but didn’t provide a specific estimate.