The Arab League’s summit in Bahrain culminated last Thursday, issuing a plea for an immediate cessation of Israel’s Gaza conflict, a full withdrawal of Israeli troops and a halt to the long-standing 17-year blockade of the Strip. The gathering, attended by Arab leaders and government officials, decried what they described as Israel’s “thwarting of ceasefire attempts”, and its unwarranted broadening of aggression into the city of Rafah, despite globally expressed concerns about the catastrophic humanitarian impacts on Palestinians taking refuge in the area.
This conference was the first of its kind following the Gaza war and the first ever to be held on Bahraini soil. Irrespective of Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan normalising diplomatic links with Israel in 2020, all participants gave their support to the summit’s appeals. Amid a backdrop of Middle Eastern turmoil, pivotal policymakers from Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, and Egypt were among those in attendance.
The league, comprised of 22 member states, reaffirmed its enduring dedication to a “fair and extensive peaceful resolution to the Palestinian question”, simultaneously endorsing a roadmap for achieving it; a proposition likely to be rebuffed by Israel and its US ally. The summit suggested an international peace symposium to facilitate the departure of Israeli forces from Palestinian lands seized in 1967 and the establishment of a Palestinian state, echoing the terms of the 2002 Arab plan. The plan advocated for full diplomatic relations with Israel following its total evacuation from Palestinian territory. The US, however, asserts this objective can only be realised via direct discussions between the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Israel. Hence, discussions on the plan have foundered since 2014 under the tenure of Israel’s current prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, who opposes Palestinian statehood.
Despite US clamour for a Pan-Arab contingent to oversee Gaza in the war’s aftermath, the Arab representatives sought a UN protection and peacekeeping force to be stationed in Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank. This body would shield Palestinians from Israeli military forces and settlers until the globally approved two-state solution is carried out. The league implored the UN Security Council to provide a timeline for this process.
The Arab nations envision the establishment of a Palestinian state incorporating the West Bank and Gaza, with its administrative centre in East Jerusalem. Israel has annexed this segment of the city, settling 517,000 individuals in the West Bank and an additional 200,000 in East Jerusalem, based on Israeli data.
The summit appealed to both Fatah and Hamas factions to reconcile their differences and unite all Palestinian entities under the protection of the PLO. Whilst both Hamas and Islamic Jihad have consistently sought PLO membership, their efforts have been consistently spurned by the dominant Fatah. Both Israel and the US intend to keep Hamas out of Palestinian administration.
The league expressed unequivocal condemnation of Houthi militant’s assaults on commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, whose intended objective is to pile pressure on the West in order to terminate the Gaza conflict.
The league was established in 1945 with the mission to find resolution to conflicts, foster collaboration and ensure regional safety.