Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Arab leaders at a summit in Cairo on Saturday (21/10/1012) condemned Israel’s bombing of Gaza. However, the meeting ended without a solution to reduce the conflict in Gaza.
Egypt, which convened and hosted the meeting, said it hoped participants would call for peace and continue Palestinian efforts to gain statehood that have lasted for decades.
However, the meeting ended without the leaders and foreign ministers agreeing on a joint statement, two weeks into a conflict that has killed thousands of people and become a humanitarian disaster in the blockaded Gaza enclave of 2.3 million people.
Diplomats attending the talks were not optimistic about a breakthrough, with Israel preparing a ground invasion of Gaza aimed at eliminating the Hamas group that attacked on October 7, killing 1,400 people.
While Arab and Muslim countries have called for an end to Israeli attacks, Western countries have largely voiced more modest goals such as humanitarian aid for civilians.
Jordan’s King Abdullah condemned what he called the global silence regarding the Israeli offensive, which has killed thousands of people in Hamas-ruled Gaza and left more than a million homeless, and urged a fair approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“The message the Arab world is hearing is that Palestinian lives matter less than Israeli lives,” he was quoted as saying Reuters.
He added that he was angry and saddened by the acts of violence committed against innocent civilians in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and Israel.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Palestinians would not be displaced or expelled from their land. “We are not leaving, we are not leaving,” he said at the meeting.
France has called for a humanitarian corridor to Gaza which they say could lead to a ceasefire. Britain and Germany urged the Israeli military to exercise restraint. Meanwhile Italy said it was important to avoid escalation.
The United States (US), Israel’s closest ally and an important player in all peace efforts in the region, only sent its charge d’affaires in Cairo who did not make a public speech at the meeting.
European Council President Charles Michel said the main aim of the summit was to listen to each other. “However, we understand that we need to work more together” on a range of issues including the humanitarian situation, avoiding regional escalation and the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, he added.
Israel has vowed to wipe out the Iran-backed Hamas militant group from the face of the earth over the shocking attack on October 7, which was the deadliest in Israel’s 75-year history.
It said it had ordered Palestinians to move south in Gaza for their own safety, even though the coastal strip is only 45 km (28 miles) long and Israeli airstrikes have also hit southern areas.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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