MANAMA, Arab League secretary general Ahmad Aboul Gheit said on Tuesday he was “livid” over Israeli practices in the Gaza Strip, ahead of a key summit that will bring leaders from the wider region together in the Bahraini capital. No words can adequately describe the anger Arab nations are feeling when witnessing the ongoing Israeli “transgressions” in the Palestinian enclave, the Cairo-based bloc’s chief told a preparatory meeting involving the foreign ministers from member states, including Kuwait’s Abdullah Al-Yahya, two days before the Arab summit, as he lashed out at Israeli occupation forces for perpetrating “inhumane atrocities.” These actions are tantamount to “ethnic cleansing” and an effort to “eradicate an entire population,” he underlined, holding Israeli forces responsible for grave violations of international and humanitarian, in addition to established United Nations conventions.
On regional and global efforts to intervene and put in place a stringent ceasefire, he said the move is a “dire nec
essity,” given the gravity of the situation, as he cited a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in support of Palestinian rights as an observer state, paving the way for its full UN membership.
The Arab League chief went on to warn that the region could potentially slip into upheaval if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains unresolved, saying the path towards a two-state solution based on 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital of an independent Palestinian state, has now become “irreversible.” “We aim to shore up global support in recognition of an independent Palestinian state,” he emphasized, saying that while the matter remains the region’s core concern, the agenda for Thursday’s summit is stacked with a plethora of pressing matters, citing unrest in Arab countries including Libya, Yemen and Syria.
Leaders from across the wider Arab region are set to assemble in Bahrain’s capital Manama on May 16 in a bid to ratchet up cooperation and coordination on a range of crucial issues, chief
among them the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Source: Kuwait News Agency