Arab, Islamic Ministers Meet Spanish FM, Discuss Gaza Conflict

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah at the meeting. (SPA)
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah at the meeting. (SPA)
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Arab, Islamic Ministers Meet Spanish FM, Discuss Gaza Conflict

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah at the meeting. (SPA)
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah at the meeting. (SPA)

Members of the Ministerial Committee assigned by the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit under the chairmanship of Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah met on Monday with Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union, and Cooperation of Spain, Jose Albares in Barcelona.

The committee members who participated in the meeting are Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Al-Safadi, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, Palestinian FM Riad Malki, Turkish FM Türkiye Hakan Fidan, and Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

They discussed developments in the situation in Gaza and its surroundings. They tackled the humanitarian truce and the release of some prisoners and their return to their families.

They also reviewed efforts towards reaching a sustainable ceasefire to end the violence and long-standing conflict and contribute to opening safe corridors for the delivery of aid and urgent relief for the Gaza Strip.

The meeting discussed the efforts to launch effective international action to stop the war and the humanitarian catastrophe, as well as the commitment to protect civilians and ensure the application of the rules of international law and international humanitarian law.

The members of the Ministerial Committee emphasized the importance of the international community taking all effective measures to ensure the implementation of international resolutions regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, ensuring that Israel is held accountable for its continued violations of international law and international humanitarian law.

They stressed the return to the path of just, lasting, and comprehensive peace, through the implementation of international resolutions related to the two-state solution and enabling the Palestinian people to obtain their legitimate rights to establish an independent and sovereign state along the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The officials renewed their demand that the international community to assume its responsibility by rejecting all forms of selectivity in applying international legal and moral standards and protecting the Palestinian people from crimes committed by Israeli forces and settler militias against them in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.



Mediator Qatar Says Israel ‘Did Not Abide’ by Gaza Truce Deal

 Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, meets with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, left, at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, meets with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, left, at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP)
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Mediator Qatar Says Israel ‘Did Not Abide’ by Gaza Truce Deal

 Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, meets with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, left, at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, meets with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, left, at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP)

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said Thursday that Israel had failed to respect January’s ceasefire agreement in Gaza, as he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

“As you know, we reached an agreement months ago, but unfortunately Israel did not abide by this agreement,” said the ruler of Qatar, a key mediator of the deal.

A truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Qatar with Egypt and the United States, came into force on January 19, largely halting more than 15 months of fighting triggered by Palestinian fighters’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

The initial phase of the truce ended in early March, with the two sides unable to agree on the next steps. Israel resumed air and ground attacks across the Gaza Strip on March 18 after earlier halting the entry of aid.

Israel said Wednesday that it had converted 30 percent of Gaza into a buffer zone in the widening offensive.

Sheikh Tamim said Qatar would “strive to bridge perspectives in order to reach an agreement that ends the suffering of the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza.”

Putin recognized Qatar’s “serious efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict” and called deaths in the conflict “a tragedy.”

“A long-term settlement can only be achieved on the basis of the UN resolution and first of all connected to the establishment of two states,” he added.

Israel’s renewed assault has so far killed at least 1,691 people in Gaza, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory reported, bringing the overall toll since the war erupted to 51,065, most of them civilians.

Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.