Arab countries condemn Israel's bombardment of Gaza, call for peace promotion

Arab leaders on October 21 attended the "Cairo Peace Conference" in Egypt, an event that also brought together leaders and foreign ministers from Europe, Africa and several countries, to seek an urgent solution to the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel.

Jordan's King Abdullah has condemned what he called "global silence" over Israeli attacks that have killed thousands of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and left more than a million homeless, Reuters reported. He also called for a fair approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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"The message the Arab world is hearing is that Palestinian lives are less important than Israeli lives," he said, adding that he was outraged and saddened by the violence that has killed innocent civilians in Gaza and the West Bank - two areas Palestinians reside in and consider their "future state" - as well as civilians in Israel.

The Cairo conference is seen as an opportunity to prevent further fighting in the region. But three diplomats said it was unlikely that the participants would agree on a joint statement because of the sensitivity surrounding any call for a ceasefire, as well as whether to mention Hamas’ offensive and Israel’s right to self-defense in the statement.

Journalists watch Jordan's King Abdullah speak on a large screen at a conference in Cairo on October 21.

The absence of several Western leaders has also dampened expectations of what the event might achieve. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron all skipped the event. The United States, Israel’s closest ally and a key player in all previous peace efforts in the region, sent only the chargé d’affaires from its embassy in Cairo.

Attending the conference, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna stressed the need to establish a humanitarian corridor to deliver aid to civilians in Gaza, which she said could help lead to a ceasefire.

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Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Israel's fight against Hamas must be accompanied by due attention to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly called on the Israeli military to respect international law and show restraint.

War crimes?

Arab states have expressed outrage at Israel’s unprecedented bombardment and siege of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million people and one of the most densely populated areas on the planet. More than 4,300 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli retaliation attacks amid a deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Israel has ordered Palestinians in northern Gaza to evacuate southward, as it prepares to launch a ground offensive in the enclave. The retaliatory operation comes after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, killing around 1,400 people and kidnapping more than 200.

Speaking at a conference in Egypt, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Palestinians would not leave their homes or leave their land under duress.

Leaders and officials of countries attending the conference in Cairo on October 21.

In his speech at the event, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said his country opposed what he called the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

"Egypt says the solution to the Palestinian problem is not displacement. The only solution to that problem is justice and Palestinians having access to their legitimate rights and living in an independent state," Sisi said.

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Egypt's stance reflects fears in the Arab world that Palestinians could be forced to flee or be displaced from their homes again, as they were during the war surrounding the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.

King Abdullah said forced displacement "is a war crime under international law and a red line for all of us".

Jordan, home to a large number of Palestinian refugees and their descendants, fears that a wider conflict would give Israel the opportunity to deport Palestinians en masse from the West Bank.

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