Saudi Arabia will gather Arab and Muslim leaders on Saturday for an extraordinary joint Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh, as the kingdom wields its influence to press the United States and Israel for an end to hostilities in Gaza.

Dozens of leaders including Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi are attending the summit, which is expected to strongly condemn Israel's campaign in Gaza and call for a halt to forced displacement of Palestinians there.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was welcomed back in the Arab League earlier this year, are also attending.

Raisi said on Saturday that time had come for action over the conflict rather than talk as he headed to Riyadh.

"Gaza is not an arena for words. It should be for action," he said at Tehran airport before departing. "Today, the unity of the Islamic countries is very important," he added.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Friday condemned "what the Gaza Strip is facing from military assault, targeting of civilians, the violations of international law by the Israeli occupation authorities".

The Middle East has been on edge since Hamas fighters rampaged into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people.

Since then, Israel has escalated its assault on Gaza where 11,078 Gaza residents have been killed as of Friday, 40% of them children, according to Palestinian officials.