Arab League Assistant Secretary-General to QNA: Bahrain Summit Outcomes Expected to Meet Arab People’s Aspirations Rejecting War in Gaza

Doha: The 33rd Arab Summit in Bahrain is anticipated to issue decisions that express a unified Arab position on the key regional issues, particularly on the more than seven-month Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, said Assistant Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ambassador Hossam Zaki. Speaking with Qatar News Agency , Zaki said the war on Gaza would normally occupy an important aspect of the Manama Summit's work as an issue of concern to Arab and global public opinions, expecting that the summit outcomes would fulfil the aspirations of the Arab people, who strongly reject the continuation of this unprecedented aggression against the Gaza Strip population. The summit will chart the course of the next moves for the collective Arab diplomatic action in a bid to reach an urgent immediate ceasefire, support the Palestinians who are going through unimaginable suffering, and prepare the way for a path that ultimately leads to the establishment of a Palestinian state, he added. Zaki pointed out that Pa lestinians feel a tremendous state of frustration and despair in addition to pain and suffering due to the war, and that there must be a political horizon after all this devastation caused by the occupation. Zaki added that there is no Arab fragmentation, stressing the unified and coordinated Arab position on the Palestinian cause. The global polarization certainly increases the toughness of the situation in the Middle East because it leads to a grave shuffling of cards, he said, stressing the failure of all attempts to obscure the Palestinian cause. Zaki added the events over the past months raised the global awareness on the justice of the Palestinian cause and the crimes of the occupation, slamming Israel's calls to promote its occupation to be merciful and economically beneficial to the Palestinians as a corrupt and inconsistent logic. The recent events have made the global public opinion further aware of the facts that occupation can only be inhumane, criminal, and based on apartheid and the persecut ion of people, he said. Asked about the possibility of adopting a unified Arab stance to face the recent US veto against recognizing Palestine as a full United Nations member, and the future of Arab-US relations in this context, he said there is an Arab plan to push important global parties to recognize a Palestinian state. There is greater openness to this option as it sends an important message to the Palestinian people that establishing their state will come in the end, and that the world will defend the two-state solution, he added. The diplomatic logic must be built upon a constant expansion of the circle of recognition of the Palestinian state, and leveraging recognition to go beyond being a symbolic step to be part of a comprehensive plan to establish the Palestinian state. He stressed the need to maintain communication with various parties, especially the US, would be important at this delicate stage to maintain the ability to influence decision-making globally, he added. Commenting on the State o f Qatar's strong support for Arab issues and joint Arab action and its constant standing alongside the sisterly Arab countries, Zaki said that the State of Qatar's well-established positive role within the Arab system stems from supporting those in need support and their efforts to settle burning issues. Expressing appreciation for Qatar's important mediation efforts, Zaki highlighted Doha's efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, in full coordination with Egypt, along with its important roles in Sudan and other crisis-hit areas. He called for increasing these Qatari roles. He hailed the crucial roles played by the State of Qatar and the Arab Republic of Egypt to achieve a sustainable ceasefire, stop the bloodshed and deliver aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, alongside their efforts to finalize a comprehensive deal to exchange prisoners, remove the occupation forces from Gaza, return the internally displaced people, deliver aid, and start reconstruction. There is no other mediator that has earned the trust t hat both Egypt and Qatar enjoy in this regard, he added. Zaki highlighted a clear rapprochement in the recent period between the Arab countries and other regional parties, especially Turkiye and Iran, with the aim of achieving common interests. He added that the war on Gaza pushed various regional parties to find common spaces, highlighting the participation of Turkiye and Iran in the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit in Riyadh on Nov. 11, 2023, and Turkiye's active membership of the ministerial committee that was formed to defend the Palestinian cause at the international level. Zaki stressed that Arab action is a comprehensive and accumulated path that goes beyond politics and diplomacy to economic and social aspects, and all aspects of human activity through a number of ad-hoc organizations within the Arab League. Despite its large-scale focus and interest in the Palestine cause, the upcoming Arab summit will be an occasion for the media to highlight these significant aspects of joint Arab action , he said. Source: Qatar News Agency