Arab League Demands a Halt to Weapons Exports to Israel

A previous meeting of the Arab League (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A previous meeting of the Arab League (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Arab League Demands a Halt to Weapons Exports to Israel

A previous meeting of the Arab League (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A previous meeting of the Arab League (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Arab League has demanded a halt to arms export to Israel, saying that countries that continue to provide Tel Aviv with weapons are complicit in killing Palestinians and destroying their homes and infrastructure.

The Arab League opened an emergency meeting in Cairo on Monday to discuss Israel's deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip. The meeting was chaired by Morocco and held at the level of permanent representatives at Palestine's request.

The League formed an ad hoc committee of the permanent representatives and General Secretariat to examine possible Arab measures that could be undertaken at the legal, economic, political, and diplomatic levels to activate and implement the resolution.

The meeting issued a 26-item resolution, during which it condemned the ongoing Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip and the systematic destruction of infrastructure, describing what Tel Aviv is doing as "a crime of genocide."

The resolution called on the UN Security Council to assume its responsibilities to preserve international security and peace.

It called on the Security Council to adopt a binding decision to stop the widespread and systematic Israeli crimes that threaten regional and international peace and security.

During the meeting, the Palestinian representative, Ambassador Mohannad al-Aklouk, referred to the joint extraordinary Arab-Islamic summit held in Riyadh on Nov. 11 and its call for taking political, diplomatic, economic, and legal action to force Israel to stop its aggression against Palestinians.

Aklouk called for "more diplomatic and political measures and activating economic and legal tools."

In turn, Jordan's representative, Ambassador Amjad al-Adaileh, said the Israeli extremist government's expansionist intentions and displacement agendas in occupied Palestine have never been clearer and more arrogant than they are today.

Adaileh asserted that it has become clear that the most extremist and racist government in the history of the occupation is racing against time to implement its agendas.

The diplomat said that since Oct. 7, Israel has been seeking to consolidate the occupation and eliminate the remaining chances of achieving peace based on the two-state solution, placing the Palestinian people before two options that have no third choice: either death or displacement.

The Arab League resolution accused the US of following a double standards policy, saying it should adopt stances that are consistent with international and humanitarian law by calling for a full and sustainable ceasefire.

The resolution warned of the danger of forced displacement of about two million Palestinians in Gaza, cautioning against Tel Aviv's intentions to complete their displacement outside the Palestinian territories by systematically pushing them towards the Egyptian border.

"The Arab countries cannot tolerate the recurrence of the Nakba scenario of 1948 and will adopt all legal, diplomatic and economic steps to prevent displacement of the Palestinian people," according to the resolution.

The resolution recalled the UN Security Council Resolution 2720 (2023) calling for immediate unhindered aid delivery on a safe and large scale across Gaza.

Egypt's Permanent Representative, Ambassador Mohamed Arfi, said that the massacre against Palestinian people constitutes compelling evidence of double standards and global shame and stressed that Cairo continues to support Palestinian rights.

The League's Council denounced the deadly Israeli attacks on Palestinian refugee camps and homes in the West Bank, the detention of thousands of Palestinians daily, and the attacks and intimidation perpetrated by Jewish settlers against Palestinians under Israeli police protection.

The Council also condemned the 100+ day siege of the Israeli occupation authorities on the al-Aqsa Mosque, which undermined the freedom of worship, as well as the repeated incursions into and desecration of the site by Jewish settlers.

The Assistant Secretary-General and President of the Palestine and Occupied Arab Territories Sector, Saeed Abu Ali, confirmed in his speech that the Palestinians are being subjected to systematic attacks against all international laws and divine laws.

Abu Ali underscored the need to redouble efforts and take necessary measures to halt the ongoing crime and bring an end to the genocide war.

The League lauded the efforts of South Africa to prosecute the Israeli occupation entity at the International Court of Justice for violating its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG).

It called on the peace-loving, law-abiding countries to back the legal steps initiated by South Africa, welcoming the decision of the Libyan Presidential Council to join the genocide case against Israel.

The Council renewed condemnation of the Israeli aggression on Syria and Lebanon, including the latest attack in Damascus on Saturday.

It warned that such attacks undermine the sovereignty of Syria and pose a serious threat to regional and international security.

The Council stressed that the only way to regional stability is through recognition of the Palestinians' legitimate and inalienable rights, notably the right to establish an independent, fully sovereign, and viable state within the pre-June 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital city.

It praised the Qatari-Egyptian mediation efforts aiming to reach a durable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and deliver aid to the residents in Gaza.

The League also appreciated the call of Algeria, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, to hold an emergency session by the Council to discuss the Israeli plans for the forcible evacuation of the Gazans.

It appreciated the UAE's successful lobbying during its term as a non-permanent member of the Council (2022-2023) for the Palestinian question, which led to the adoption of the Council resolutions 2712 and 2720 last year.



Gaza Health Ministry Confirms Received Bodies of 15 Palestinians under Truce Deal

 Temporary tents stretch along the beachfront in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP)
Temporary tents stretch along the beachfront in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP)
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Gaza Health Ministry Confirms Received Bodies of 15 Palestinians under Truce Deal

 Temporary tents stretch along the beachfront in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP)
Temporary tents stretch along the beachfront in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP)

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza confirmed Saturday it had received the bodies of 15 Palestinians the day before under the US-brokered ceasefire exchange deal.

"The Ministry of Health announces the receipt of 15 bodies of martyrs who were released yesterday, Friday, by the Israeli occupation through the Red Cross. This brings the total number of bodies received to 330" as part of the deal, the ministry said, adding it had so far identified 97.

They were returned in exchange for the remains of 73-year-old Israeli hostage Meny Godard, which Hamas returned via the Red Cross on Thursday.


After Assad's Fall, Syrians and EU Officials Hold Rare Meeting in Damascus

Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad al-Shaibani leaves the stage after addressing delegates during a day of dialogue with Syrian civil society, a first step towards structured dialogue with the Syrian government and the European Union, at Conference Palace near Damascus on November 15, 2025. (AFP)
Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad al-Shaibani leaves the stage after addressing delegates during a day of dialogue with Syrian civil society, a first step towards structured dialogue with the Syrian government and the European Union, at Conference Palace near Damascus on November 15, 2025. (AFP)
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After Assad's Fall, Syrians and EU Officials Hold Rare Meeting in Damascus

Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad al-Shaibani leaves the stage after addressing delegates during a day of dialogue with Syrian civil society, a first step towards structured dialogue with the Syrian government and the European Union, at Conference Palace near Damascus on November 15, 2025. (AFP)
Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad al-Shaibani leaves the stage after addressing delegates during a day of dialogue with Syrian civil society, a first step towards structured dialogue with the Syrian government and the European Union, at Conference Palace near Damascus on November 15, 2025. (AFP)

Representatives of Syria’s civil society held rare open discussions Saturday in Damascus in the presence of officials from the European Union and the transitional government. They touched on sensitive topics including sectarian tensions, ethnic divisions and people killed by different sides.

The EU-organized meetings known as “The Day of Dialogue” are the first to be held in Damascus after taking place in past years in Brussels. Saturday's meetings came nearly a year after the fall of the 54-year Assad family rule in Syria in a stunning offensive by opposition groups in early December.

The meetings that used to take place within the framework of the Brussels Conferences were mostly boycotted by then-President Bashar al-Assad’s government. The EU said Saturday's meetings were organized in cooperation with Syrian civil society and the Syrian transitional authorities.

“The meeting that used to be held to talk about Syria is now being held in Syria,” Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said in a speech at the opening session held at a conference center in the southern outskirts of Damascus.

Al-Shaibani added that Saturday’s meetings represent “a solid partnership with the civil society and our partners in the European Union.”

Michael Ohnmacht, chargé d’affaires of the EU delegation to Syria, said 500 people from Syria’s different religious and ethnic groups took part in the meetings and “this is something very positive.”

“This is what we hope for Syria’s future, to see this inclusive state which will be a state in the form of all its citizens,” Ohnmacht said.

Despite the changes in Syria over the past year, sectarian violence in the country’s coastal region in March and the southern province of Sweida in July between pro-government gunmen and members of the country’s Druze and Alawite minorities left hundreds of people dead.

Such acts of violence show that Syria still faces major crises in the 14-year conflict that has left half a million people dead.

“Today’s dialogue is the beginning of change and rebuilding Syria only happens through partnership based on respect between the state and civil society,” said Social Affairs Minister Hind Kabawat.

During one of the sessions on transitional justice and the fate of the missing, Syrians demanded answers on issues still pending, such as more than 130,000 people who went missing under Assad's rule while an ethnic Kurd spoke about state discrimination they have faced for decades. Another spoke about violence against some women who belong to minority sects.

Mazen Darwish, a Syrian lawyer and one of the country’s most prominent activists who was repeatedly jailed in Syria before he went into exile years ago, said no one regrets the fall of the Assad family rule adding that this does not mean that “the future of Syria will be rosy and great.”

“Today we have an opportunity in Syria and we have to take advantage of it,” Darwish said.


Trump's Africa Envoy Says Sudan 'World's Biggest Humanitarian Crisis'

US Department of State's senior advisor to the president for Arab and African Affairs, Massad Boulos, speaks during the signing ceremony of the Doha Framework for a Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the DRC Government and the Congo River Alliance/March 23 Movement (AFC/M23) in Doha on November 15, 2025.
US Department of State's senior advisor to the president for Arab and African Affairs, Massad Boulos, speaks during the signing ceremony of the Doha Framework for a Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the DRC Government and the Congo River Alliance/March 23 Movement (AFC/M23) in Doha on November 15, 2025.
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Trump's Africa Envoy Says Sudan 'World's Biggest Humanitarian Crisis'

US Department of State's senior advisor to the president for Arab and African Affairs, Massad Boulos, speaks during the signing ceremony of the Doha Framework for a Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the DRC Government and the Congo River Alliance/March 23 Movement (AFC/M23) in Doha on November 15, 2025.
US Department of State's senior advisor to the president for Arab and African Affairs, Massad Boulos, speaks during the signing ceremony of the Doha Framework for a Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the DRC Government and the Congo River Alliance/March 23 Movement (AFC/M23) in Doha on November 15, 2025.

US President Donald Trump's Africa envoy Massad Boulos on Saturday called the war in Sudan "the world's biggest humanitarian crisis", telling AFP he hoped to see diplomatic progress towards peace.

Since its outbreak in April 2023, the war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly 12 million.

At the end of October, the paramilitary group seized control el-Fasher, the conclusion of a bitter 18-month siege for the strategic hub in western Sudan's Darfur region and marked by reports of mass killings and sexual violence.

"The conflict in Sudan, the humanitarian side of this conflict, is the world's biggest humanitarian crisis today, and the world's biggest humanitarian catastrophe," Boulos told AFP in an interview in Doha.

"Especially what happened in el-Fasher in the last two or three weeks. We've all seen those videos. We've seen those reports. Those atrocities are absolutely unacceptable. This must stop very quickly."

Washington has urged the warring parties to finalize a truce in Sudan.

The country's army-aligned government has indicated it will press on with the war following an internal meeting on a US ceasefire proposal.

And while the RSF has said it agrees to the humanitarian truce presented by mediators, the paramilitary group has also continued its offensive.

Boulos said the US and its mediating partners in Sudan were calling on the two sides to agree to a "three-month humanitarian truce".

"It's being discussed and it's being negotiated... we're urging them to accept this proposal and implement it immediately, without delay," he said.

In September the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt jointly called for a humanitarian truce followed by a permanent ceasefire and a transition toward civilian rule, but suggested that no warring party should be part of that transition.

Boulos said the US hopes, with its partners, to "achieve some breakthrough in the coming weeks" on the larger plan including on a transition to a civilian-led government.

"The top priority right now remains the humanitarian aspect and the humanitarian truce," he said.