Arab Foreign Ministers Call for International Intervention to Protect the Palestinian People from Israeli Occupation Crimes
Cairo, Sept 7 (KUNA) – The Arab League Council of Foreign Ministers called on the international community today, Monday, to intervene immediately to protect the Palestinian people from crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces and settlers in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
In a decision on Palestine issued at the conclusion of the 166th ordinary session, chaired by Tunisia, the Council urged the full implementation of all stages of the ceasefire agreement in the Strip, issued at the Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit in 2025, and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2803. This, it said, would ensure an end to the aggression, the reconstruction of the Strip, and enable the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination and realize the independence of their state.
The Council appealed to all countries to provide political, financial, and legal support for the Arab-Islamic plan for recovery and reconstruction in Gaza and to consolidate the Palestinian people on their land. In this context, it welcomed efforts to hold an international conference in Cairo as soon as possible, in coordination with the State of Palestine and the United Nations.
The Arab foreign ministers reiterated their condemnation of the genocidal, starvation, siege, and aggression crimes, as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity, still being committed by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza.
The Council also condemned Israeli occupation measures aimed at annexing occupied West Bank lands, including East Jerusalem, as well as forced displacement, home demolitions, land confiscation, the establishment of military checkpoints, and the entrenchment of the division of the West Bank into isolated areas and cantons. It stressed that the annexation of any part of the Palestinian land occupied in 1967 constitutes a war crime.
It considered the ongoing Israeli aggression and occupation against the people and land of the State of Palestine as a violation of Arab national security and a undermining of international peace and security. It called for strengthening joint Arab action to protect the Palestinian people by activating and developing mechanisms for joint Arab defense, including the activation of the Treaty of Joint Defense and Economic Cooperation among Arab States.
The decision called on the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to compel the Israeli occupation to comply with its relevant resolutions on the Palestinian issue, halt its aggression against the Palestinian people, and implement the orders and advisory opinions of the International Court of Justice.
It expressed its firm rejection of any form of displacement of the Palestinian people from their land or alteration of their demographic composition, including what the occupation promotes under the guise of "voluntary migration," noting that displacement is a form of genocide and ethnic cleansing and a serious violation of international law.
It also rejected measures and plans aimed at fragmenting the geographical and demographic unity of the Palestinian people, including separating the Gaza Strip from the occupied West Bank or imposing different systems in the Strip, emphasizing that the Palestinian people are one people and that Gaza is an inseparable part of the land of the State of Palestine.
The Council condemned the Israeli occupation authorities’ demolition and takeover of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) headquarters in Sheikh Jarrah, as well as the closure of its offices, schools, and centers in Jerusalem and their replacement by Israeli institutions. It considered these measures to target the Palestinian refugee issue and their right to basic services.
It also welcomed the UN General Assembly’s decision to renew UNRWA’s mandate until 2029, while condemning the Israeli aggression against the agency’s facilities and staff in Gaza, which resulted in the martyrdom of more than 350 employees, injured hundreds, and destroyed approximately 315 of its facilities.
It expressed its rejection and condemnation of the systematic Israeli and American campaigns against UNRWA, urging member states to pay their assessed contributions of 7.8 percent of the agency’s regular budget and to encourage exceptional contributions to its funding. It called on the Secretary-General of the Arab League to continue coordinating with the UNRWA Commissioner-General to mobilize financial support for the agency’s budget.
The ministers called on the international community to continue providing aid to strengthen the institutions of the State of Palestine and support its development plans and programs. They also urged Arab states to continue supporting the Palestinian economy, opening their markets to Palestinian-origin products, exempting them from customs duties, and encouraging Arab private sector institutions to invest in Palestine.
They affirmed their support for the relief, recovery, reconstruction, and development plan prepared by the State of Palestine, calling on countries, organizations, development agencies, and national and international funds to contribute to its financing and implementation in coordination with the Palestinian side.
They also called on the Arab League to act and coordinate with international and national organizations and institutions to aid Palestinian children who lost their fathers or suffered limb amputations as a result of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, with special attention to providing prosthetic limbs for children.
The Council expressed its appreciation for Arab efforts in providing relief, medical, and food aid, as well as shelter supplies, to the Palestinian people in light of the crimes and aggression they are enduring. (End) M.M./R.J.
