New Delhi:

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday spoke to his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan and discussed the “grave” situation arising out of the unprecedented attacks on Israeli cities by Hamas over the weekend.

The external affairs minister’s phone conversation with Farhan came two days after he discussed the crisis with Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

“Appreciated the conversation with Foreign Minister HH @FaisalbinFarhan of Saudi Arabia,” the external affairs minister said on ‘X’.

“Discussed the grave situation in the Middle East,” he said.

The unprecedented and multi-pronged attacks against Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza since Saturday and the subsequent Israeli retaliation have left around 2,800 people dead.

Israel has launched a massive counter offensive in Gaza to avenge the attacks by Hamas.

The sudden escalation in hostilities between Israel and Hamas has triggered global concerns. Leading powers like Germany, the US, France and the UK emphasised the importance of preventing the situation from further escalation.

India on Thursday described the strikes by Hamas on Israeli cities as “terror attacks” but at the same time reaffirmed its “long-standing” position advocating negotiations towards establishing a “sovereign, independent and viable” state of Palestine living side-by-side at peace with Israel.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that there is an universal obligation to observe international humanitarian law and there is also a global responsibility to fight the menace of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

Mr Bagchi was asked about the plight of Palestinians in Gaza in view of Israel’s counter-attacks following Hamas’s unprecedented strikes and US President Joe Biden’s message to Tel Aviv to “operate by the rules of war”.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu that the people of India stand firmly with his country in this difficult hour, expressing strong and unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)