The Arab League demands for UN peacekeepers in the occupied Palestinian territories

MANAMA: The Arab League urged the United Nations (UN) to send peacekeeping forces to the troubled Palestinian territories to deal with the increasingly critical humanitarian crisis.

They also recommended the organization of an international peace conference to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian issue, at a summit dominated by issues related to the war between the Zionist regime and Hamas.

In a final statement after the meeting in Manama, the 22-member group called for ‘international protection and UN peacekeeping forces in the occupied Palestinian territories’ until a two-state solution is implemented.

It also accepted the call of the host, the King of Bahrain, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the Palestinian president, Mahmud Abbas, to ‘hold an international conference under the auspices of the United Nations’ to deal with the Palestinian issue based on a two-state solution.

The meeting of Arab heads of state and government took place in Bahrain more than seven months after the conflict in Gaza shook West Asia and gained global attention.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the summit that his political rival, Hamas, through the October 7 attack in southern Israel, gave Israel a reason to launch a war on Gaza.

“The military operation carried out by Hamas with a unilateral decision on October 7 gave Israel more reason and justification to attack the Gaza Strip,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hamas said it regretted Abbas’ statement accusing him of giving Israel a ‘pretext’ to launch a war on Gaza.

“We express our regret regarding the statement made by the Palestinian President… at the Arab summit held in Manama,” the group said.

Through a document called the ‘Manama Declaration’ issued by the Arab countries, they also urged ‘all Palestinian factions to unite under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)’, which is controlled by the leadership of Abbas.

The document added, it considered the PLO as ‘the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people’.
It is the first time the bloc has come together since an extraordinary summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in November that also involved leaders from the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) based in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. – AFP