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Saudi Arabia, Palestine Coordinate Efforts to Hold Urgent Arab Summit

The recent meeting of Arab League Foreign Ministers in Cairo (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The recent meeting of Arab League Foreign Ministers in Cairo (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia, Palestine Coordinate Efforts to Hold Urgent Arab Summit

The recent meeting of Arab League Foreign Ministers in Cairo (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The recent meeting of Arab League Foreign Ministers in Cairo (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia and Palestine, continue their consultations in preparation for an emergency Arab summit to discuss efforts to stop the war in Gaza.

Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League Hossam Zaki told Asharq Al-Awsat that consultations are ongoing between Palestine, the Saudi leadership, and other countries.

On Saturday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Arab leaders to convene an emergency summit to stop Israeli attacks in Gaza.

Abbas said: "I call on Arab leaders to hold an emergency Arab summit to stop Israel's brutal aggression against the Palestinians, team up in countering international challenges, and go great lengths so that our people can stay on their land and end the occupation of our state, with Jerusalem as its capital."

The Assistant Secretary-General explained that there is Saudi-Palestinian coordination regarding the summit.

The League still needs to start the official preparations for the summit. However, Zaki believes that under the current circumstances, it would be difficult for two-thirds of the members not to agree to hold an emergency summit in Egypt or Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, spokesman for the Sec-Gen of the Arab League Jamal Rushdie indicated that consultations are now underway to determine a date and location of the summit.

Rushdie told Asharq Al-Awsat that the summit is expected to be held in Saudi Arabia.

In May, Saudi Arabia hosted the 32nd Regular Session of the Arab League Council at the Summit Level.

The upcoming summit, once held, is set to discuss ways to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the issue of hostages, and allowing sustainable entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip, according to Zaki.

The League held an emergency meeting at the level of foreign ministers on October 11 at its headquarters in Cairo to discuss the crisis in Gaza, which concluded with a call for urgent international action to stop the war.

The meeting condemned the targeting of civilians and warned against displacing Palestinian people.

Furthermore, Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed the recent military escalations in Gaza with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and Jordan Ayman Safadi.

Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement that the two calls come within the framework of coordinating Arab efforts to deal with the unprecedented military escalation in the Strip, the ongoing attacks against Palestinians, and ways to implement an immediate humanitarian truce.

On Sunday, the Arab League Sec-Gen, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, met with Belgium's Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib in Cairo.

Aboul Gheit lauded Belgium's position on the Palestinian cause, including its vote on the UN General Assembly's Arab-drafted resolution calling for a humanitarian truce in Gaza.

He said the Belgian position reflects just principles, contrary to the double standards practiced by some countries.

Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the ongoing Israeli aggression and collective punishment pursued by the occupation forces. He said their practices amount to war crimes including bombing hospitals, completely cutting off communications aiming to isolate the enclave, and bombing innocent civilians, most of whom are children and women.

Both sides agreed on the need for the international community to carry out its tasks to rescue and protect civilians and implement international humanitarian law.

They affirmed their rejection of Israel's policy of transferring or forcibly displacing Gazans to neighboring countries.

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Long Waits for Canadian Visas Leave Gazans in Limbo

Reem Alyazouri and her husband, Ashraf Alyazouri, who escaped Gaza and reached Toronto, pose for a photograph in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, September 30, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio
Reem Alyazouri and her husband, Ashraf Alyazouri, who escaped Gaza and reached Toronto, pose for a photograph in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, September 30, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio
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Long Waits for Canadian Visas Leave Gazans in Limbo

Reem Alyazouri and her husband, Ashraf Alyazouri, who escaped Gaza and reached Toronto, pose for a photograph in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, September 30, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio
Reem Alyazouri and her husband, Ashraf Alyazouri, who escaped Gaza and reached Toronto, pose for a photograph in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, September 30, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio

Reem Alyazouri's escape from a bombarded Gaza City through Egypt ended in Toronto on Sept. 4.
But as she and her family wrestle with applications for work permits and health insurance, her mother and father remain stuck in Cairo waiting for Canadian visas after fleeing Israel's war in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza seven months ago, Reuters said.
"My mind is busy with my parents," she said. "I feel guilty, believe me. When I came here and I left them behind they told us, 'Go and start your life. ... Don't worry about us.'"
The family is trying to come to Canada through a temporary residence program for Gazans with relatives here. Alyazouri's brother Hani Abushomar, a Canadian citizen, applied for six of his family members to join him in Canada hours after the program was launched in January.
Nine months and a harrowing exit from Gaza later, his mother and father remain stranded in Cairo. They completed the last major step of the visa application process - submitting biometric information - six months ago.
They are among thousands of Palestinians waiting for visas from Canada, a country that prides itself on welcoming people from around the world.
Canada said in May it would bring in up to 5,000 Gazans - expanding on a pledge in December to take in 1,000 from the Palestinian enclave. Months later, just over 300 have arrived, with 698 applications approved out of over 4,200 submitted.
Reuters spoke with multiple applicants who said they have been waiting for months since submitting biometric information, dashing their hopes of a swift reunion with relatives in Canada.
Canada has made no promises on how long it would take to process visas for Gazans fleeing the conflict and says it has little control over who is able to leave the enclave.
A cross-border attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 last year, in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage, ignited the war that has flattened most of Gaza, displacing most of its 2.3 million people and killing more than 41,800 people, according to Gaza health authorities.
Canada's focus "is on keeping families together and bringing them to safety as quickly as possible," immigration department spokesperson Julie Lafortune wrote in an email. The primary barrier is getting out of Gaza, she added.
Application processing times vary "based on the details and complexity of each file, and many factors are outside of the IRCC's control," Lafortune said, referring to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada department.
The immigration department would not say how many applicants have submitted biometric information and are waiting in Egypt.
BARRIERS TO ENTRY
Immigration lawyers say the wait for Gazans is longer than those faced by other groups fleeing conflict or disaster, and that the small numbers approved contrast with hundreds of thousands of visas granted to Ukrainians under a similar program offering temporary status.
One Canadian immigration expert said some of the visa requirements for Gazans - such as having to provide employment information dating back to when they were 16 - are unusual.
"Canada has a lot of experience in designing temporary, ad hoc programs and this one has an inordinate amount of barriers and hurdles for people to meet," said University of Ottawa law professor Jamie Chai Yun Liew, who focuses on immigration.
Liew said the Gaza program is moving slower than other Canadian temporary immigration programs, including those for Ukranians and survivors of the 2023 earthquake in Syria and Türkiye.
As of April, Canada had approved nearly 963,000 applications under the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel since March 2022. So far nearly 300,000 people have arrived in Canada under that program.
Australia has granted about 3,000 visitor visas to people from Gaza since October 2023 and about 1,300 have arrived in the country, said Graham Thom, advocacy coordinator with the Refugee Council of Australia, a research and advocacy group.
'EVERYTHING IS UNCERTAIN'
Gazans who have managed to get to Egypt live in limbo, surviving off savings or donations, without access to government services, said immigration lawyer Debbie Rachlis, adding she represents dozens in that position. Many are survivors of trauma.
They beat the odds just by getting that far, and for most, the escape came at great personal risk. The Gaza City neighborhood where Alyazouri and Abushomar's family lived has been "erased," he said. They were forced to flee from their home multiple times. Alyazouri's daughter was injured.
"Something in my heart is broken," Alyazouri said.
The Canadian government said it continues to put forward the names of applicants to local Israeli officials, "but does not ultimately decide who can exit Gaza."
"Israel has agreed to Canada's request for the exit of extended family members in Gaza as part of their expanding humanitarian efforts. However, at present, the Rafah border crossing is closed,” Lafortune wrote, referring to the main entry point between Gaza and Egypt.
Abushomar has been waiting with his mother and father for visas in Egypt, where people in their position lack papers to work, access health care or open a bank account. He says he will eventually have to return to Canada to work and worries for his parents, especially his mother, who has dementia and joint problems.
For now, Abushomar says, "Everything is uncertain."