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Can Arab Efforts Pressure for a Two-State Solution?

Meeting on Palestine at the United Nations (Arab League)
Meeting on Palestine at the United Nations (Arab League)
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Can Arab Efforts Pressure for a Two-State Solution?

Meeting on Palestine at the United Nations (Arab League)
Meeting on Palestine at the United Nations (Arab League)

At the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Arab nations pushed for the implementation of a two-state solution. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said recognizing Palestine would lead to “fair negotiations” with Israel.

Experts told Asharq Al-Awsat that these efforts are a way to “pressure Israel and advance peace,” especially after Saudi Arabia formed a global alliance to push for the two-state solution.

On Thursday, a ministerial meeting at the UN, attended by representatives from Arab, Islamic, and European countries, discussed the Palestinian issue. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan announced that the first meeting of the alliance would take place in Riyadh.

Aboul Gheit outlined three key points during the meeting: taking concrete steps to weaken the Israeli occupation, increasing recognition of Palestine to enable equal negotiations, and stressing that peace can only be achieved by ending the occupation and creating a Palestinian state.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called for an “immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza”, urging the international community to stop the attacks on Palestine, according to Egypt’s foreign ministry.

He noted that the crisis isn’t just due to the events of Oct. 7 but stems from years of Israeli actions to entrench an illegal occupation.

Abdelatty stressed the importance of granting Palestinians their right to freedom and establishing a viable independent state along the June 4, 1967 borders, in line with international law and the two-state solution.

The New York meeting was called by the Arab-Islamic Contact Group on Gaza, which includes Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Türkiye.

It followed a mid-September Arab-European meeting in Madrid, attended by Norway, Slovenia, the EU’s Josep Borrell, and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa.

On his part, Prince Faisal called on all countries to “show courage” and join the 149 nations that already recognize Palestine. He stressed that the two-state solution is the best way to end the ongoing conflict and suffering.

Dr. Saad Okasha, an Israeli affairs expert at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said diplomatic efforts are key to advancing peace.

However, he told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israel is unlikely to respond to international calls to end the war or recognize Palestine, especially as it is gaining militarily with US support.

He added that diplomatic efforts are usually more effective after the fighting stops, but they still play a role in preventing further escalation.

In support of the Palestinian cause, Aboul Gheit met with Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino. He expressed disappointment over Argentina’s recent positions, which were rejected by Arab countries, and urged a review to avoid negative reactions.

In an informal dialogue with the UN Security Council and Arab leaders, Aboul Gheit warned that the region is at a critical crossroads. He urged the international community to take immediate action to stop Israel’s military operations and push for a fair solution based on the two-state model.

The “Extraordinary Arab-Islamic Summit” held in Riyadh last November assigned a ministerial committee to stop the war in Gaza and push for a serious peace process.

The committee has since engaged in talks with global leaders to help end the conflict.

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Sudan's Relentless War: A 70-Year Cycle of Conflict

Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (left) and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, pictured during their alliance to oust Omar al-Bashir in 2019 (AFP)
Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (left) and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, pictured during their alliance to oust Omar al-Bashir in 2019 (AFP)
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Sudan's Relentless War: A 70-Year Cycle of Conflict

Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (left) and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, pictured during their alliance to oust Omar al-Bashir in 2019 (AFP)
Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (left) and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, pictured during their alliance to oust Omar al-Bashir in 2019 (AFP)

While world conflicts dominate headlines, Sudan’s deepening catastrophe is unfolding largely out of sight; a brutal war that has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and flattened entire cities and regions.

More than a year into the conflict, some observers question whether the international community has grown weary of Sudan’s seemingly endless cycles of violence. The country has endured nearly seven decades of civil war, and what is happening now is not an exception, but the latest chapter in a bloody history of rebellion and collapse.

The first of Sudan’s modern wars began even before the country gained independence from Britain. In 1955, army officer Joseph Lagu led the southern “Anyanya” rebellion, named after a venomous snake, launching a guerrilla war that would last until 1972.

A peace agreement brokered by the World Council of Churches and Ethiopia’s late Emperor Haile Selassie ended that conflict with the signing of the Addis Ababa Accord.

But peace proved short-lived. In 1983, then-president Jaafar Nimeiry reignited tensions by announcing the imposition of Islamic Sharia law, known as the “September Laws.” The move prompted the rise of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), led by John Garang, and a renewed southern insurgency that raged for more than two decades, outliving Nimeiry’s regime.

Under Omar al-Bashir, who seized power in a 1989 military coup, the war took on an Islamist tone. His government declared “jihad” and mobilized civilians in support of the fight, but failed to secure a decisive victory.

The conflict eventually gave way to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, better known as the Naivasha Agreement, which was brokered in Kenya and granted South Sudan the right to self-determination.

In 2011, more than 95% of South Sudanese voted to break away from Sudan, giving birth to the world’s newest country, the Republic of South Sudan. The secession marked the culmination of decades of war, which began with demands for a federal system and ended in full-scale conflict. The cost: over 2 million lives lost, and a once-unified nation split in two.

But even before South Sudan’s independence became reality, another brutal conflict had erupted in Sudan’s western Darfur region in 2003. Armed rebel groups from the region took up arms against the central government, accusing it of marginalization and neglect. What followed was a ferocious counterinsurgency campaign that drew global condemnation and triggered a major humanitarian crisis.

As violence escalated, the United Nations deployed one of its largest-ever peacekeeping missions, the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), in a bid to stem the bloodshed.

Despite multiple peace deals, including the Juba Agreement signed in October 2020 following the ousting of long-time Islamist ruler, Bashir, fighting never truly ceased.

The Darfur war alone left more than 300,000 people dead and millions displaced. The International Criminal Court charged Bashir and several top officials, including Ahmed Haroun and Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein, with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Alongside the southern conflict, yet another war erupted in 2011, this time in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan and the Blue Nile region. The fighting was led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, head of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North (SPLM–N), a group composed largely of northern fighters who had sided with the South during the earlier civil war under John Garang.

The conflict broke out following contested elections marred by allegations of fraud, and Khartoum’s refusal to implement key provisions of the 2005 Naivasha Agreement, particularly those related to “popular consultations” in the two regions. More than a decade later, war still grips both areas, with no lasting resolution in sight.

Then came April 15, 2023. A fresh war exploded, this time in the heart of the capital, Khartoum, pitting the Sudanese Armed Forces against the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Now entering its third year, the conflict shows no signs of abating.

According to international reports, the war has killed more than 150,000 people and displaced around 13 million, the largest internal displacement crisis on the planet. Over 3 million Sudanese have fled to neighboring countries.

Large swathes of the capital lie in ruins, and entire states have been devastated. With Khartoum no longer viable as a seat of power, the government and military leadership have relocated to the Red Sea city of Port Sudan.

Unlike previous wars, Sudan’s current conflict has no real audience. Global pressure on the warring factions has been minimal. Media coverage is sparse. And despite warnings from the United Nations describing the crisis as “the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe,” Sudan's descent into chaos remains largely ignored by the international community.