CAIRO, Monday, January 22, 2024 (WAFA) – The Arab League Council held today an sxtraordinary session on Palestine, under the chairmanship of the Kingdom of Morocco, to discuss the ongoing Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

The meeting, which was held at the level of permanent representatives and at the request of Palestine, tackled the Israeli war crimes and plots against the Palestinians in addition to the political, legal, diplomatic and economic steps taken to halt the Israeli aggressions.

The meeting shed light on the escalation of the Israeli crimes in the West Bank, including the systematic destruction of the infrastructure of Palestinian refugee camps, the daily incursions of Palestinian cities, villages and camps, the killing and wounding of hundreds of Palestinians, the demolition of houses and the detention of thousands of Palestinians in inhumane circumstance, according to Palestine's Permanent Representative to the Arab League, Ambassador Mohannad Aklouk.

In a statement issued at the conclusion of the meeting, the Arab League Council called on the United States to adopt a position consistent with international law and international humanitarian law and its role as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

The council called for a complete and sustainable ceasefire, obligating Israel to stop its aggression against the Palestinian people and to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, as well as to lift the siege imposed on it.

It also called on Israel to curb its plans and efforts aimed at the forced displacement of Palestinians.

The council urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to stop its non-indifference and failure to uphold its responsibilities in preserving international security and peace, calling it to adopt binding decisions to stop the wide-scale systematic crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people, which the Council stressed impose threats to international peace and security.

The Council agreed to appoint an ad hoc Committee consisting of permanent representatives and the Secretariat General to examine possible Arab measures that could be undertaken at the legal, economic, political and diplomatic levels to activate and implement the contents of this resolution and to issue its report and circulate it to the Member States within one week from the date of its adoption.

The Council stressed that the Arab states would not allow the repetition of the Nakba scenario in 1948 and would countenance Israeli plans to displace the Palestinian people.

It stressed that it will take the necessary political, diplomatic, legal and economic steps to prevent such a scenario from occurring, stating that the overriding objective of the forced displacement of Palestinians is to liquidate the Palestinian issue, which is a central issue for the whole Arab nation, stressing that such measure would move the region to new levels of conflict and instability.

The Council warned that collusion, cooperation or tolerance of any state or entity for Israel’s forced displacement plans makes it complicit in the crime and responsible for the violation of international law and relevant international treaties and conventions.

The Council called for the speedy implementation of UNSC Resolution 2720, which demands parties to the conflict allow, facilitate and enable the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid at scale to Gaza.

The Council demanded countries that still provide and export arms to Israel which are used to kill Palestinian civilians and destroy their homes, hospitals, schools, universities, mosques, churches, infrastructure and all their capacities, to refrain from doing so to avoid complicity.

It also urged States whose nationals are fighting in the ranks of the Israeli army and taking part in Israel’s aggression against the Palestinian people to take the necessary legal measures to hold them accountable.

The Council expressed its appreciation to the States that referred the situation in Palestine to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and urged States that are keen to ensure justice for the victims and an end to the impunity of the perpetrator of crimes, to submit more referrals on the situation in Palestine to the ICJ.

It urged all countries to enlist Israeli colonial organizations on their list of terrorist organizations and to impose travel bans on the entry of Israeli colonists to their territories.

The permanent representatives affirmed that the only way to achieve security, stability and peace in the region is through enabling the Palestinian people to achieve their freedom and independence; by ending the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine occupied in 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and enabling the State of Palestine to exercise full sovereignty over its territory and the Palestinian people to realize their legitimate and inalienable rights.

T.R.