Arab leaders called on Thursday for the deployment of United Nations peacekeepers in the Palestinian territories who can protect civilians ahead of the implementation of the two-state solution.
The leaders met at the 33rd ordinary session of the Arab League Council in Manama, under the presidency of Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, to address the war on Gaza.
In a closing statement, the leaders underscored the importance of the two-state solution and the need for setting a timeframe for the political process and negotiations. They called for taking clear measures to that end.
They also called for holding a UN-sponsored international conference focusing on resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the two-state solution and that would end the Israeli occupation of all Arab lands and establish an independent Palestinian state according to international resolutions.
The sovereign and viable Palestinian state would live in security and peace side-by-side with Israel, it added.
The leaders tasked the foreign ministers of Arab countries to “act immediately to communicate with the counterparts around the world to urge them to swiftly recognize the State of Palestine.”
Consultations will be held with the FMs to discuss the details of their efforts.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, reiterated the Kingdom’s support for the establishment of an internationally recognized Palestinian state, demanding that the international community support ceasefire efforts in Gaza.
The Kingdom is committed to resolving conflicts through peaceful means, he stressed before the summit.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi underscored Cairo’s firm stance in rejecting the forced displacement of the Palestinian people, adding that “those who believe that security and military solutions can achieve interests or achieve security are delusional.”
He added that the region was at a crossroads “that demands that all concerned parties choose between either peace, stability and hope, or chaos and destruction that the ongoing military escalation is leading us to.”
Moreover, he noted that “history will look on long at the war in Gaza to record a major tragedy that has been marked by killing, reprisals and a siege on an entire people, their starvation and terrorization.”
He also criticized the international community’s “regrettable inability” to take any action to address the crisis.
