Ali Choukeir
Thu, May 16, 2024
Bahrain's Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa greets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (-)
The Arab League on Thursday called for a UN peacekeeping force in the Palestinian territories and an international peace conference at a summit dominated by the war between Israel and Hamas.
In a concluding statement following a meeting in Manama, the 22-member grouping called for "international protection and peacekeeping forces of the United Nations in the occupied Palestinian territories" until a two-state solution is implemented.
It also adopted calls by host Bahrain's King Hamad and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to "convene an international conference under the auspices of the United Nations, to resolve the Palestinian issue on the basis of the two-state solution".
The meeting of Arab heads of state and government convened in Bahrain more than seven months into the conflict in Gaza that has convulsed the wider region.
The Gaza war broke out after Hamas's attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
The militants also seized about 250 hostages, 128 of whom Israel estimates remain in Gaza, including 36 the military says are dead.
Israel's military retaliation has killed at least 35,272 people, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry, and an Israeli siege has brought dire food shortages and the threat of famine.
- 'Open wound' -
The league also separately, called for an "immediate" ceasefire in Gaza and an end to forced displacement in the Palestinian territory.
Abbas told the summit his rival Hamas gave Israel "pretexts and justifications" to wage war on Gaza with its October 7 attack.
Hamas voiced its "regret over the remarks" asserting the attack had "placed our Palestinian cause at the forefront of priorities, achieving strategic gains".
It also welcomed the league's final statement and urged "brotherly Arab states to take the necessary measures to compel the (Israeli) occupation to stop its aggression".
Speaking at the summit, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the Gaza war as "an open wound that threatens to infect the entire region", calling for "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages".
Guterres said "the only permanent way to end the cycle of violence and instability is through a two-state solution".
In response to the calls for peacekeepers, a UN spokesman said any creation of a mission would be dependent on "a mandate from the Security Council" and "acceptance by the parties of the UN presence".
This, the secretary-general's deputy spokesman said, "is something that would need to be established and those are not things we take for granted”.
The so-called "Manama Declaration" issued by the Arab nations also urged "all Palestinian factions to join under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization", which is dominated by Abbas's ruling Fatah movement.
It added that it considered the PLO "the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people".
- Red Sea attacks -
It is the first time the bloc has come together since an extraordinary summit in Riyadh, capital of neighbouring Saudi Arabia, in November that also involved leaders from the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, based in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
While in November leaders declined the approval of punitive steps against Israel, Kuwaiti analyst Zafer al-Ajmi told AFP the meeting in Manama differed from recent summits.
Western public opinion has become "more inclined to support the Palestinians and lift the injustice inflicted on them" since Israel's creation more than 70 years ago, Ajmi said.
Meanwhile, Israel had failed to achieve its war objectives including destroying Hamas and was now mired in fighting, he said.
In a campaign they say is in solidarity with Palestinians amid the Gaza war, Yemen's Iran-backed Huthis have launched a flurry of attacks on vital shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November.
The summit in Bahrain "strongly condemned the attacks on commercial ships", saying they "threaten freedom of navigation, international trade, and the interests of countries and peoples of the world".
The declaration added the Arab nations' commitment to "ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea" and surrounding areas.
An Arab-Israeli war in 1967 saw Israel seize the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
Israel later annexed east Jerusalem, and successive Israeli governments have encouraged Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories.
Under international law, the Palestinian territories, including Gaza, remain occupied, and Israeli settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank are considered illegal.
Arab League calls for 'immediate' cease-fire in Gaza, establishment of Palestinian state
Ehren Wynder
Thu, May 16, 2024
Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa makes a speech as he leads the 33rd Arab League Summit in Manama in Bahrain on Thursday. Photo by Bahrain News Agency/UPI
May 16 (UPI) -- Leaders at the 33rd Arab League summit on Thursday condemned the Israeli offensive in Gaza and called for the "immediate" withdrawal of forces from the region.
Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa presided over this year's summit, which took place in Bahrain's capital of Manama. The meeting covered numerous ongoing conflicts in Libya, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, in addition to the war in Gaza.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who headed last year's summit, gave an opening speech in which he reiterated his country's support for the establishment of a Palestinian state and called on international leaders to halt the "Israeli aggression against Gaza."
The crown prince also noted Houthi rebel attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea and said it is essential to protect the area from actions that affect maritime commerce.
Hamad stressed the need to adopt a unified Arab and international position to end the conflict in the Middle East and for "the full recognition of the State of Palestine and accepting its membership in the United Nations."
Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, center, poses with Arab leaders ahead of the 33rd Arab League Summit in Manama in Bahrain. Photo by Bahrain News Agency/UPI
This year's Arab League summit comes against the backdrop of the Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza in response to the terror group's Oct. 7 attack, which killed more than 1,170 people in southern Israel.
Gaza's Health Ministry reported Israeli military operations have killed at least 35,272 people and created serious food shortages.
Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, right, receives Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Manama in Bahrain on Thursday ahead of the 33rd Arab League. Photo by Bahrain News Agency/UPI
Also in attendance on Thursday were Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar and United Arab Emirates Vice President and ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Al-Sisi accused Israel of avoiding efforts to reach a cease-fire with Hamas and continuing its assault on Rafah along the Gaza-Egypt border.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman makes a speech opening the 33rd Arab League Summit in Bahrain. Photo by Bahrain News Agency/UPI
He also accused Israel of using the Rafah border crossing "to tighten the siege on the Strip."
"[Egypt] renews its rejection of the displacement or forced displacement of Palestinians," he said.
Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, right, receives Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas in Manama in Bahrain ahead of the 33rd Arab League. Photo by Bahrain News Agency/UPI
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rejoined the summit for a second time this year. The Arab League suspended Syria's membership in 2011 over the government's brutal treatment of Arab Spring protesters.
Also present was U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who called for an "immediate humanitarian cease-fire and unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza" and an "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages."
Bahrainian officials receive Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C) ahead of the 33rd Arab League. Photo by Bahrain News Agency/UPI
"In its speed and scale, it is the deadliest conflict in my time as Secretary-General - for civilians, aid workers, journalists and our own U.N. colleagues," he said of the Gaza war.
Thursday's summit was the second Arab League gathering since the launch of the Israeli campaign into Gaza.
The 33rd Arab League Summit meets in Manama, Bahrain, on Thursday. It was the second league meeting since the outbreak of the Israeli incursion into Gaza. Photo by Bahrain News Agency/UPI
Just a month after the outbreak of the war, Riyadh hosted an emergency summit where leaders rejected Israel's claims that it was acting in self defense and called on the U.N. Security Council to adopt "a decisive and binding resolution" to halt the operation.
The agenda for Thursday's summit also covered joint Arab action in the political, economic, social, cultural, media and security fields.
Participants also adopted the "Bahrain Declaration," a proposal drafted on Tuesday calling for a U.N.-backed international peace conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be held in Manama.
Attendees also discussed reactivating the Arab Peace Initiative, which Saudi Arabia proposed and was adopted at the 2002 league summit.
The initiative proposes full diplomatic relations with Israel and Arab states in exchange for Israel withdrawing from Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 and the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.
Palestinian president calls on Arab countries for financial support
Reuters
Thu, May 16, 2024
Palestinian President Abbas, in Ramallah
DUBAI (Reuters) - The Palestinian government has not received the financial support it had expected from international and regional partners, President Mahmoud Abbas said at an Arab League summit on Thursday.
"It has now become critical to activate the Arab safety net, to boost the resilience of our people and to enable the government to carry out its duties," Abbas said.
Funding of the Palestinian Authority, the body which exercises limited governance of the occupied West Bank, has been severely restricted by a dispute over transferring tax revenue Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians.
Funding from international donors has also been squeezed, falling from 30% of the $6 billion annual budget to around 1%, former Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has said.
(This story has been corrected to say that Mohammad Shtayyeh is a former Palestinian prime minister, in paragraph 4)
(Reporting by Ali Sawafta and Tala Ramadan; Editing by Michael Georgy and Bernadette Baum)
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