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Aqaba Summit Calls for Gaza Ceasefire, Two-State Solution

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (dpa)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (dpa)
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Aqaba Summit Calls for Gaza Ceasefire, Two-State Solution

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (dpa)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (dpa)

Jordan's King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stressed the need to increase pressure to halt the Israeli aggression in Gaza, and protect civilians. They also reiterated their commitment to a two-state solution for the Palestinian issue.

This came during their summit in Aqaba to discuss the critical situation in Gaza, during which they also emphasized their opposition to any plans to displace Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

They further rejected any Israeli plans to separate Gaza from the West Bank, adding the two entities were the basis of a future Palestinian state.

The three leaders confirmed "a complete rejection of any attempt to reoccupy parts of Gaza, and the need to enable its people to return to their homes."

The summit reiterated the importance of ensuring the permanent and sufficient delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, alleviating the tragic humanitarian situation in the region.

Moreover, the leaders drew attention to hostile actions by extremist settlers in the West Bank against the Palestinian people, and violations of Islamic and Christian sanctities in Jerusalem, which could lead to the situation in the West Bank spiraling out of control, and regional escalation.

They agreed to continue working collectively, coordinating with Arab and influential countries, to find a political horizon for the Palestinian issue, achieving a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, which would restore all legitimate rights to the Palestinian people, ensuring the establishment of their independent, sovereign state along the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Jordan’s King warned against any escalation that could widen the circle of war and complicate efforts to reach a ceasefire, highlighting the seriousness of the situation requiring an exceptional effort to determine the steps in the upcoming phase.

Before the tripartite summit, King Abdullah held separate meetings with the Egyptian and Palestinian presidents to discuss efforts aimed at an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

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Arab World

Lebanese Front’s Tunnels Used for Defense, Attack and Launching Missiles

In 2019, Israeli forces searched for attack tunnels dug in southern Lebanon that extend into Israel (Israeli Ministry of Defense)
In 2019, Israeli forces searched for attack tunnels dug in southern Lebanon that extend into Israel (Israeli Ministry of Defense)
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Lebanese Front’s Tunnels Used for Defense, Attack and Launching Missiles

In 2019, Israeli forces searched for attack tunnels dug in southern Lebanon that extend into Israel (Israeli Ministry of Defense)
In 2019, Israeli forces searched for attack tunnels dug in southern Lebanon that extend into Israel (Israeli Ministry of Defense)

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group faces Israeli air superiority and technological capabilities by going underground. The group has built a massive and complex network of tunnels in the South, the southern suburbs of Beirut, and the Bekaa regions.
The ongoing clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army on the southern Lebanese border, which erupted in October, has brought back the spotlight on these tunnels, which have been shown to be divided into 3 types.
The first are defensive tunnels that allow the party’s fighters to take shelter from aircraft raids. The second are offensive tunnels that the Israeli army said it destroyed in 2019, and the third group consists of small tunnels to hide rocket launchers and which appeared in one of the video clips broadcast by Hezbollah’s military media last month.
According to Israeli reports, Hezbollah started digging tunnels in the 1980s and 1990s, but those remained far from the border with Israel. However, in 2006, the Israeli media showed a tunnel that the Israeli army discovered during the July war inside Lebanese territory, and quoted officials as saying that the party’s construction of cross-border tunnels began before the start of the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
Concerned about tunnels extending into Israeli territory, Israeli authorities launched a campaign in 2018 to destroy this infrastructure, and announced in 2019, the end of its operation to raze all of Hezbollah’s cross-border attack tunnels.
The last tunnel that Israel destroyed stretched along 800 meters. The Israeli army said the tunnel extended over dozens of meters into Israel, and was dug to a depth of 55 meters, making it the deepest tunnel discovered by the army. The tunnel was equipped with electricity, had a railway to transport equipment and waste, exit stairs and other elements that made it more advanced than other passageways that were uncovered.
In 2020, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the participation of the Israeli army, organized a field tour for 12 diplomats from UN Security Council member states, to show them the tunnel on the northern border with Lebanon.
Since the eruption of war on Oct. 8, Lebanese sources have confirmed that the Israeli army used bunker-piercing bombs to destroy tunnels suspected of being built by the party in the border area.
A report issued by the Alma-Israel Research Center said that after the 2006 Lebanon War, the party established a defensive plan to confront any possible Israeli invasion, with dozens of operations centers equipped with local underground networks and tunnels.
In addition to the previous two types of tunnels, Hezbollah media revealed a third category. Last month, the party’s media presented a report on the party’s artillery and weapons, and one of the clips showed a rocket launcher rising from the ground and launching a missile, indicating that the party hides these platforms underground.