MANAMA (AFP) – The Arab League called on Thursday for the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces to the “occupied Palestinian territory” at an international summit focused on Israel’s war with Hamas.
Issue date: 2024/05/16 – 04:13 Modification date: 2024/05/16 – 18:38
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In its final statement after the Manama meeting, the 22-nation group called for “an international UN protection and peacekeeping force in the occupied Palestinian territory” until a two-state solution is implemented.
The resolution also adopted a call from the chair, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, to “convene an international conference under the auspices of the United Nations to resolve the Palestinian issue on the basis of a two-state solution.”
The meeting of Arab heads of state and government leaders took place in Bahrain more than seven months after the start of the Gaza conflict that has devastated the entire region.
The Gaza conflict erupted following attacks by Hamas on southern Israel which have resulted in more than 1,170 people being killed, most of them civilians, according to official Israeli figures compiled by AFP.
The militants are also holding around 250 hostages, of which Israel estimates 128 remain in Gaza. The military says 36 have been killed.
Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (centre) and Arab leaders attend the Manama Summit © Bahrain News Agency via AFP
According to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip’s Health Ministry, Israeli retaliation has left at least 35,272 people dead, most of them civilians, and the Israeli siege has led to severe food shortages and the threat of starvation.
‘Open wounds’
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the summit that the Oct. 7 attack from the Palestinian territories had given Hamas’ political opponents a pretext for Israel to launch war on Gaza.
“The military operation unilaterally decided by Hamas on October 7 has given Israel further pretext and justification to attack the Gaza Strip,” he said.
Speaking at the summit, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the war in Gaza as “an open wound that threatens to have repercussions for the entire region” and called for the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
“A two-state solution is the only lasting way to end the cycle of violence and instability,” Guterres said.
The so-called Manama Declaration, issued by Arab countries, also called for “all Palestinian factions to join under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization” led by Abbas’s ruling Fatah party.
He added that he considers the PLO to be “the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.”
It was the first time the coalition had met together since an emergency summit in Riyadh, the capital of neighboring Saudi Arabia, in November last year, which also included leaders of the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), headquartered in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
Red Sea Attack
In November the leaders refused to approve punitive measures against Israel, but Kuwaiti analyst Zafer Al-Azimi told AFP the Manama meeting would be different to recent summits.
Azimi said that since the founding of Israel more than 70 years ago, Western public opinion has “increasedly leaned towards supporting the Palestinians and undoing the injustices inflicted on them.”
Meanwhile, Israel has failed to achieve its war objectives, such as destroying Hamas, and is now mired in hostilities, he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that about half a million people had been evacuated from the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, and he has insisted on going after remaining Hamas forces in the country despite objections from U.S. President Joe Biden.
He also disputed claims that Israel’s invasion of Rafah would cause a “humanitarian catastrophe”, although much of the international community remains staunchly opposed to it.
Amid the Gaza war, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have launched a series of attacks since November on key shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden as part of a move they say is in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Read more Aboard a French warship defending Red Sea shipping from Houthi attacks
At the Bahrain summit, he “strongly condemned attacks on commercial ships” and said they “threaten freedom of navigation, international trade and the interests of countries and peoples around the world.”
The declaration added that Arab countries committed to ensuring freedom of navigation in the “Red Sea” and surrounding areas.
In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Israel occupied 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 settlement in the Palestinian territories.
Under international law, Palestinian territory, including Gaza, remains under occupation and Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank are considered illegal.
(AFP)
