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UN-Sponsored International Peace Conference to Address Palestinian Cause in Bahrain

Arab foreign ministers met in Manama on Tuesday in preparation for the summit. (dpa)
Arab foreign ministers met in Manama on Tuesday in preparation for the summit. (dpa)
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UN-Sponsored International Peace Conference to Address Palestinian Cause in Bahrain

Arab foreign ministers met in Manama on Tuesday in preparation for the summit. (dpa)
Arab foreign ministers met in Manama on Tuesday in preparation for the summit. (dpa)

The Permanent Representative of Palestine to the League of Arab States said that leaders at the Arab Summit in Bahrain on Thursday will call for an international peace conference to resolve the Palestinian cause, under the auspices of the United Nations.

Ambassador Muhannad Al-Aklouk revealed that the Bahraini Minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed, during his speech at the meeting of Arab foreign ministers, that the summit will adopt a set of Arab initiatives, including “holding an international peace conference to resolve the Palestinian issue, under the auspices of (the United Nations), on the territory of Bahrain.”

Al-Aklouk added that Palestine welcomes and supports the initiative, and considers it a response to the peace plan previously presented by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2018.

In press statements on the sidelines of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Manama, on Tuesday, the permanent representative of Palestine to the Arab League said that the conference aims to launch a serious political process with a specific time limit, leading to ending the occupation on the basis of international references for the peace process, including the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.

“The Bahrain summit is expected to adopt the term genocide to describe the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, which claimed thousands of lives and caused the destruction of infrastructure,” he remarked.

Al-Aklouk went on to say that other measures are expected to be announced during the summit, including “calling on the Security Council to adopt a resolution under Chapter Seven of the (United Nations) Charter to oblige Israel to commit to a ceasefire,” stressing that Chapter Seven “includes imposing sanctions if the decisions are not implemented.”

“The Arab Summit is scheduled to consider the invasion of the city of Rafah as an attack on Arab national security,” he stated, pointing to the threats to Egypt’s security.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.