Aboul Gheit Warns of ‘Religious War’ over Israel’s Annexation Plan

Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit (REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)
Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit (REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)
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Aboul Gheit Warns of ‘Religious War’ over Israel’s Annexation Plan

Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit (REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)
Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit (REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)

Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit warned on Thursday against the eruption of a “religious war” over Israeli attempts to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

“Israel’s annexation of Palestinian lands constitutes a new brutal aggression on the Palestinian people and their sovereignty on their territories,” he stressed in a statement.

This would be a hostile move against Arab and Islamic nations and would undermine the chances for establishing peace in the region, Aboul Gheit said.

He added that this “dangerous development may lead to confrontation and religious wars that the international community shall not allow us to slip into.”

“The annexation plan is a blatant violation of international laws and the UN charter.”

Aboul Gheit pointed out that the whole world is responsible for defending Palestinian rights.

He urged the preservation of the international system that is based on respect for international law and on mutual respect between countries and peoples.

The Arab League called for maintaining Arab support for the Palestinian educational process and alleviating the suffering of Palestinian students.

This would allow future Palestinian generations to confront and challenge Israel to end its occupation and establish the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

AL Assistant Secretary General for Palestine and the Occupied Arab Territories Saeed Abu Ali made these remarks during the virtual session of the Educational Programs Committee for Arab students in the occupied Arab territories.

Abu Ali affirmed that committee members are determined to continue supporting and following up the developments of the educational process in Palestine, especially in light of the extremely difficult circumstances that Palestine and the entire world are passing through due to the coronavirus outbreak.

He pointed to Israel’s policies to exploit the current circumstances and implement its colonial settlement plans by annexing large parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley.

Israel is preventing the implementation of measures, especially in Jerusalem and its environs, to confront the pandemic, he noted.

Abu Ali also highlighted Israel’s continued demolition, displacement, arrest, and targeting of educational and health facilities.



Weaponization of Food in Gaza Constitutes War Crime, UN Rights Office Says

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches among the ruins of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in west of Gaza City, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches among the ruins of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in west of Gaza City, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
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Weaponization of Food in Gaza Constitutes War Crime, UN Rights Office Says

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches among the ruins of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in west of Gaza City, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches among the ruins of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in west of Gaza City, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

The UN human rights office said on Tuesday that the "weaponization" of food for civilians in Gaza constitutes a war crime, in its strongest remarks yet on a new model of aid distribution run by an Israeli-backed organization.

Over 410 people have been killed by gunshots or shells fired by the Israeli military while trying to reach distribution sites of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation since it began work in late May, UN human rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told reporters at a Geneva press briefing.

The death toll has been independently verified by his office, he added.

"Desperate, hungry people in Gaza continue to face the inhumane choice of either starving to death or risk being killed while trying to get food," he said, describing the system as "Israel's militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism".

"The weaponization of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to life-sustaining services, constitutes a war crime and, under certain circumstances, may constitute elements of other crimes under international law."

Asked whether Israel was guilty of that war crime, he said: "The legal qualification needs to be made by a court of law."

Israel rejects war crimes charges in Gaza and blames Hamas fighters for harm to civilians for operating among them, which the fighters deny.