Israel Palestinian
The Arab League requested a UN peacekeeping force in the Palestinian territories as well as an international peace conference, but it did not endorse harsh economic and political measures against Israel while at a summit in Bahrain.
Following a conference in Manama, the 22-member grouping issued a closing statement calling for “international protection and peacekeeping forces of the United Nations in the occupied Palestinian territories” until a two-state solution is realized.
It also supported requests from host Bahrain’s King Hamad and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas to “convene an international conference under the auspices of the United Nations, to resolve the Palestinian issue on the basis of the two-state solution.”
In its reaction, the United States stated that a UN peacekeeping force in the Palestinian territories could jeopardize Israel’s efforts to destroy the Hamas resistance group, but did not explicitly oppose it.
The Arab heads of state and government met in Bahrain more than seven months into the Gaza battle, which has wracked the region.
Israel has launched a deadly assault on Gaza following Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israeli military bases and settlements that were previously Arab towns and farms.
Hamas claims its surprise raid was planned in response to Israeli attacks on the Al Aqsa Mosque, unlawful settler violence in the occupied West Bank, and to put the Palestine issue “back on the table.”
According to Israeli officials and local media, the hours-long attack and the Israeli military’s clumsy response resulted in the deaths of over 1,130 individuals.
Palestinian fighters captured over 250 prisoners, and 130 are still in Gaza, including 34 who the Israeli army claims are dead, some of them slain in indiscriminate Israeli bombings.
