2023-10-21 14:32:00
Calls for a truce between Israel and Palestinian Hamas to allow aid into Gaza were made at the “peace summit” on Saturday in Egypt, with UN boss Antonio Guterres calling for action quickly to put end of “the nightmare”.
Beyond shared calls for the entry of aid to Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, subject to an Israeli siege, representatives of Western and Arab countries at the meeting were unable to agree on a final communiqué , Arab diplomats told AFP.
The negotiations failed on two points, according to them: on the one hand, “Western countries wanted a clear condemnation of Hamas” which launched hostilities on October 7 with a surprise and unprecedented attack which has since left 1,400 dead in Israel . On the other, they demanded “a call for the release of the hostages”, some 200 people kidnapped during the attack by Hamas.
The Arab countries refused to include these points and the summit ended with a press release from the Egyptian presidency denouncing “an international scene which has revealed in recent decades its incapacity to find a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian question”.
After two weeks of war, “we must act now to end the nightmare”, said UN boss Antonio Guterres at the opening of the summit, while nearly 4,400 Palestinians were killed in Israeli retaliatory bombings. in Hamas-controlled Gaza, according to the local Health Ministry.
Gaza “needs a massive delivery of aid”, he added, while only 20 trucks entered it on Saturday from the Rafah border post, between Gaza and Egypt.
For the UN, at least 100 trucks per day are needed for the 2.4 million Gazans deprived of everything.
“We will not leave”
Arab and European leaders, heads of the Arab League, the African Union and the European Union participated in the summit held in the New Capital which borders Cairo. Russia, China, Japan, Canada and the United States were also represented.
Abdullah II of Jordan called for “an immediate ceasefire”, while Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi affirmed that “the only solution to the Palestinian question is justice”, emphasizing the “right” of the Palestinians “to establish their State”.
Mr. Guterres returned to “the broader context,” referring to “56 years of (Israeli) occupation with no end in sight.” “But nothing can justify the reprehensible attack by Hamas” which must, he continued, “immediately and unconditionally release” its hostages.
It is necessary, added the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, “the end of the occupation of the Palestinian Territories by Israel and the two-state solution” Israeli and Palestinian.
US President Joe Biden said Wednesday in Tel Aviv that this war strengthened his “determination” for a two-state solution.
“We will not leave,” Mr. Abbas repeated three times while Cairo and Amman are up in arms against the Israeli order to evacuate Palestinians from the north of the Gaza Strip to the south of the territory, bordering the Egypt.
They see it as a step towards “a forced displacement” of the Palestinians towards the Egyptian Sinai which would, according to Mr. Abbas, amount to “a second Nakba” (catastrophe in Arabic), in reference to the 760,000 Palestinians pushed into exile after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.
“Less than”
“The world is silent,” protested Abdallah II and “this is a very dangerous message.” “The Arab world understands it clearly: Palestinian lives are worth less than Israeli lives. Human rights have limits: they stop at borders, races and religions.”
The head of Turkish diplomacy Hakan Fidan denounced “unconditional military aid to Israel which only serves to maintain the occupation” of the Palestinian Territories.
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan denounced the rejection by the UN Security Council of two resolutions calling for an end to hostilities.
Egypt, at the initiative of this summit, wants to be on the diplomatic front line on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, while the conflict has lasted for 75 years.
The first Arab country to sign peace with Israel in 1979, Egypt is a traditional mediator between Israel and the Palestinians and controls Rafah, the only opening to the world of Gaza which is not in the hands of Israel.
21/10/2023 18:44:41 – Cairo (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
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