Aboul Gheit: East Jerusalem is an Occupied Territory by Int’l Law

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
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Aboul Gheit: East Jerusalem is an Occupied Territory by Int’l Law

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit emphasized on Saturday that by international law and the United Nations and Security Council resolutions, East Jerusalem is an “occupied land” and should not be treated otherwise.

On his Twitter page, Aboul Gheit said “those who brandish respect for international laws must not have double standards.”

Aboul Gheit had on Thursday met with the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, on the sidelines of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

“Aboul Gheit had listened to the explanation given by the President of Kosovo regarding her country’s efforts to obtain additional international recognition,” Jamal Rushdie, spokesman for the League’s Secretary-General said.

Aboul Gheit stressed that the 2021 decision of Kosovo’s previous administration to open its embassy in Jerusalem is a clear violation of international law.

“The position taken by Kosovo’s former administration to open an embassy in Jerusalem in 2021, although it was a sovereign state decision, we consider it a blatant violation of international law, which considers Jerusalem a city under occupation and does not recognize it as the capital of Israel,” said Aboul Gheit.

Rushdie also stated that Aboul Gheit had conveyed to Kosovo’s President the “need to reconsider this decision, which we believe fails to serve the goal of achieving comprehensive peace in the region, nor does it reflect the deep relations between a number of Arab countries with the people of Kosovo.”



US, Arab Mediators Make Some Progress in Gaza Peace Talks, No Deal Yet

Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)
Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)
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US, Arab Mediators Make Some Progress in Gaza Peace Talks, No Deal Yet

Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)
Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)

US and Arab mediators have made some progress in their efforts to reach a ceasefire accord between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but not enough to seal a deal, Palestinian sources close to the talks said on Thursday.
As talks continued in Qatar, the Israeli military carried out strikes across the enclave, killing at least 17 people, Palestinian medics said.
Qatar, the US and Egypt are making a major push to reach a deal to halt fighting in the 15-month conflict and free remaining hostages held by the Hamas group before President Joe Biden leaves office.
President-elect Donald Trump has warned there will be "hell to pay", if the hostages are not released by his inauguration on Jan. 20.
On Thursday, a Palestinian official close to the mediation effort said the absence of a deal so far did not mean the talks were going nowhere and said this was the most serious attempt so far to reach an accord.
"There are extensive negotiations, mediators and negotiators are talking about every word and every detail. There is a breakthrough when it comes to narrowing old existing gaps but there is no deal yet," he told Reuters, without giving further details.
On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Eden Bar-Tal said Israel was fully committed to reaching an agreement to return its hostages from Gaza but faces obstruction from Hamas.
The two sides have been at an impasse for a year over two key issues. Hamas has said it will only free its remaining hostages if Israel agrees to end the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza. Israel says it will not end the war until Hamas is dismantled and all hostages are free.
SEVERE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
On Thursday, the death toll from Israel's military strikes included eight Palestinians killed in a house in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, where Israeli forces have operated for more than three months. Nine others, including a father and his three children, died in two separate airstrikes on two houses in central Gaza Strip, health officials said.
There was no Israeli military comment on the two incidents.
More than 46,000 people have been killed in the Gaza war, according to Palestinian health officials. Much of the enclave has been laid waste and most of the territory's 2.1 million people have been displaced multiple times and face acute shortages of food and medicine, humanitarian agencies say.
Israel denies hindering humanitarian relief to Gaza and says it has facilitated the distribution of hundreds of truckloads of food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment to warehouses and shelters over the past week.
Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. On Wednesday, the Israeli military said troops had recovered the body of Israeli Bedouin hostage Youssef Al-Ziyadna, along with evidence that was still being examined suggesting his son Hamza, taken on the same day, may also be dead.
"We will continue to make every effort to return all of our hostages, the living and the deceased," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.