Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee Calls for Immediate Ceasefire, Gaza Reconstruction

The meeting, held Sunday in Cairo, included Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. (Foreign Ministry of Egypt) 
The meeting, held Sunday in Cairo, included Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. (Foreign Ministry of Egypt) 
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Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee Calls for Immediate Ceasefire, Gaza Reconstruction

The meeting, held Sunday in Cairo, included Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. (Foreign Ministry of Egypt) 
The meeting, held Sunday in Cairo, included Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. (Foreign Ministry of Egypt) 

The Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee, in a high-level meeting with European representatives, urged the immediate resumption of ceasefire negotiations in Gaza and the swift implementation of a truce. The committee also rejected any forced displacement of Palestinians and called on the international community to mobilize resources for a Gaza reconstruction conference.

The meeting, held Sunday in Cairo, included Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Discussions focused on the latest developments in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly the escalating violence in Gaza.

In a joint statement, the committee expressed deep concern over the breakdown of the ceasefire, citing the heavy civilian toll resulting from recent airstrikes. The participants strongly condemned the resumption of hostilities and attacks on civilians and infrastructure, urging an immediate return to the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States on January 19.

The statement also stressed the importance of advancing to the second phase of the agreement, which includes the release of all hostages, a permanent cessation of violence, and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2735.

The committee underscored the urgent need for compliance with international humanitarian law and called for unimpeded humanitarian aid access to Gaza. It urged the immediate lifting of all restrictions hindering aid delivery and the rapid restoration of essential services, including electricity and water desalination.

Participants welcomed the Arab recovery and reconstruction plan presented at the Cairo Summit on March 4, which was subsequently endorsed by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and acknowledged by the European Council.

The committee emphasized the necessity of unifying Gaza and the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority (PA) and supporting the PA’s ability to govern effectively. It reiterated the importance of preserving the territorial integrity of the Palestinian territories and reaffirmed that Gaza is an inseparable part of the occupied land, forming the foundation of a future Palestinian state.

The meeting also addressed Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank, condemning incursions, illegal settlement expansion, home demolitions, and settler violence. These actions, participants warned, not only violate Palestinian rights but also jeopardize the prospects for a sustainable peace and further deepen the conflict.

The committee insisted that Israel, as the occupying power, must fulfill its legal obligations to protect civilians and adhere to international humanitarian law. It also firmly rejected any attempts to annex Palestinian land or alter the historical and legal status of Jerusalem’s holy sites.

Reaffirming their commitment to a diplomatic resolution, the committee stressed the need for a two-state solution in which Israel and Palestine coexist peacefully within secure borders. The statement referenced UN resolutions, the Madrid Peace Process, the land-for-peace principle, and the Arab Peace Initiative as key frameworks for achieving lasting peace in the region.

As part of these efforts, the committee reiterated its commitment to holding a high-level international conference under UN auspices in June in New York. The conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, aims to push forward a comprehensive political resolution to the conflict.

 

 

 

 

 



Gaza Civil Defense Says Six Killed in Israeli Strikes

A Palestinian man carries items he salvaged from a house targeted in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat camp for refugees in the central Gaza Strip on May 24, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian man carries items he salvaged from a house targeted in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat camp for refugees in the central Gaza Strip on May 24, 2025. (AFP)
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Gaza Civil Defense Says Six Killed in Israeli Strikes

A Palestinian man carries items he salvaged from a house targeted in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat camp for refugees in the central Gaza Strip on May 24, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian man carries items he salvaged from a house targeted in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat camp for refugees in the central Gaza Strip on May 24, 2025. (AFP)

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli strikes killed at least six people on Saturday across the Palestinian territory, where Israel has ramped up its military offensive in recent days.

"Our teams have recovered at least six dead," civil defense agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

He said a couple were killed with their two young children in a pre-dawn strike on a house in the Amal quarter of the southern city of Khan Younis.

Another two people were killed in a strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of the territory, he said.

The Israeli military said it was unable to comment on individual strikes without their "precise geographical coordinates".

Israel resumed operations in Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire.

Gaza's health ministry said Friday that at least 3,673 people had been killed in the territory since then, taking the war's overall toll to 53,822, mostly civilians.

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Gunmen also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said on Friday that Palestinians were enduring "the cruelest phase" of the war in Gaza, where more than a dozen food trucks were looted following the partial easing of a lengthy Israeli blockade.

The World Food Program called on Israel "to get far greater volumes of food assistance into Gaza faster", saying: "Hunger, desperation, and anxiety over whether more food aid is coming, is contributing to rising insecurity."

Aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip restarted on Monday for the first time since March 2, amid mounting condemnation of the Israeli blockade, which has resulted in severe shortages of food and medicines.