By Aidan Lewis and Nafisa Eltahir
CAIRO (Reuters) -Arab leaders at a Cairo summit on Saturday condemned Israeli bombardment of Gaza as Europeans stated civilians ought to be shielded, however with Israel and senior U.S. officers absent there was no settlement in the direction of containing the violence.
Egypt, which known as the assembly and hosted it, stated it had hoped members would name for peace and resume efforts to resolve the decades-long Palestinian quest for statehood.
However the assembly ended with out leaders and overseas ministers agreeing a joint assertion, two weeks right into a battle that has killed 1000’s and visited a humanitarian disaster on the blockaded Gaza enclave of two.3 million individuals.
Diplomats attending the talks had not been optimistic of a breakthrough, with Israel getting ready a floor invasion of Gaza aimed toward wiping out the militant Palestinian group Hamas that rampaged by its cities on Oct. 7, killing 1,400 individuals.
Gaza’s Well being Ministry stated on Saturday Israel’s air and missile strikes had killed a minimum of 4,385 Palestinians for the reason that Hamas assault.
Whereas Arab and Muslim states known as for an instantaneous finish to Israel’s offensive, Western nations largely voiced extra modest objectives akin to humanitarian aid for civilians.
Jordan’s King Abdullah denounced what he termed world silence about Israel’s assaults, which have killed 1000’s in Hamas-ruled Gaza and revamped one million homeless, and urged an even-handed method to the Israeli-Palestinian battle.
“The message the Arab world is listening to is that Palestinian lives matter lower than Israeli ones,” he stated, including he was outraged and grieved by acts of violence waged towards harmless civilians in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Financial institution, and Israel.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stated Palestinians wouldn’t be displaced or pushed off their land.
“We can’t depart, we can’t depart,” he informed the summit.
France known as for a humanitarian hall into Gaza that it stated may result in a ceasefire. Britain and Germany each urged Israel’s army to indicate restraint and Italy stated it was necessary to keep away from escalation.
The US, Israel’s closest ally and an important participant in all previous peace efforts within the area, solely despatched its Cairo cost d’affaires who didn’t handle the assembly in public.
European Council President Charles Michel stated the primary aim of the summit was “to hear to one another”.
Nevertheless, “we perceive that we have to work extra collectively” on points together with the humanitarian scenario, avoiding a regional escalation and a Palestinian-Israeli peace course of, he added.
Israel has vowed to wipe the Iranian-backed Hamas militant group “off the face of the earth” over the shock Oct. 7 assault, the deadliest Palestinian militant assault in Israel’s 75-year historical past.
It has stated it informed Palestinians to maneuver south inside Gaza for their very own security, though the coastal strip is just 45 km (28 miles) lengthy and Israeli air strikes have additionally hit the south.
CEASEFIRE
The assembly was meant to discover find out how to head off a wider regional struggle. However diplomats knew public settlement can be laborious due to sensitivities round requires a ceasefire, whether or not to incorporate point out of Hamas’ assault and Israel’s proper to defend itself.
Arab states concern the offensive may drive Gaza residents completely from their houses and even into neighbouring states – as occurred when Palestinians fled or had been pressured from their houses within the 1948 struggle following Israel’s creation.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stated his nation opposed what he known as the displacement of Palestinians into Egypt’s largely desert Sinai area, including the one resolution was an unbiased Palestinian state.
Egypt fears insecurity close to the border with Gaza in northeastern Sinai, the place it confronted an Islamist insurgency that peaked after 2013 and has now largely been suppressed.
Jordan, dwelling to many Palestinian refugees and their descendants, fears a wider conflagration would give Israel the prospect to expel Palestinians en masse from the West Financial institution.
King Abdullah stated pressured displacement “is a struggle crime in keeping with worldwide regulation, and a crimson line for all of us.”
Shortly earlier than the summit opening, vehicles loaded with humanitarian support started getting into the Rafah crossing into Gaza. Egypt has been attempting for days to channel humanitarian aid to Gaza by the crossing, the one entry level not managed by Israel.
(Modifying by Mark Heinrich, Toby Chopra and Ros Russell)
