An Arab meeting warns of Israel's threats to the region and calls for an end to the Gaza war.

The Arab League's ministerial council meeting warned on Thursday of the occupation's threats to the region and called for an end to its war on the Gaza Strip. This came in statements from Arab officials during the 164th ordinary session of the Arab League Council at the level of foreign ministers, held in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

The UAE chaired the ordinary session in the presence of the Secretary-General of the League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini. The council's proceedings, chaired by UAE Minister of State Khalifa Al-Marar, included a review of several Arab and regional issues.

In his speech before handing over the presidency of the session from Oman to Abu Dhabi, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi stated that "the world is facing an Israeli regime whose brutality knows no bounds in its destructive wars on Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and the stability and future of Syria and Lebanon." He added that "Israel is making Gaza an unlivable land as part of a colonial and displacement scheme, and it is besieging the Palestinian people in the occupied West Bank and their leadership economically and in terms of livelihood, in order to destroy the legitimate representation of the Palestinian people and pave the way for further displacement plans."

He emphasized that "confronting this looming danger requires collective Arab action. We must work together according to a comprehensive strategy—political, economic, legal, and defensive—that employs all available tools to protect our future and interests, and to safeguard the region's right to live in just and lasting peace."

The Jordanian Foreign Minister pointed out that "stopping the barbaric aggression on Gaza and ending the famine that Israel has created in the Strip under the eyes of the entire world remains our priority." Regarding Syria, he said: "We support Syria's efforts to rebuild on the foundations that ensure its security, stability, sovereignty, and the safety of all its citizens while preserving their rights, and we warn of the repercussions of Israeli attacks and interventions in Syria and its affairs."

Safadi added: "We stand with our sister Syria in facing all division schemes and in ensuring the security of all its people, who are equal in rights and duties," stressing that "the stability of Syria is a strategic necessity for both Arab and international interests."

In his speech, Aboul Gheit affirmed that "the council meeting is taking place in a delicate Arab, regional, and international context, amid a genocide being perpetrated by the occupying forces in Gaza that targets more than just killing and revenge." He noted that this war "aims to undermine and liquidate the entire Palestinian cause by eliminating the project of a Palestinian state, displacing the people, forcibly uprooting them, and seizing land through illegal annexation."

Aboul Gheit stressed that "stopping the massacre that the occupation seeks to expand is the overarching theme of Arab action."

Alongside the genocide in Gaza, the Israeli army and settlers have escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in the martyrdom of at least 1,017 Palestinians and injuring around 7,000 others, in addition to the arrest of more than 18,500, according to Palestinian data.

With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, involving killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to stop.

This genocide has resulted in 64,231 martyrs and 161,583 injured Palestinians, most of whom are children and women, over 9,000 missing persons, hundreds of thousands of displaced individuals, and a famine that has killed 370 Palestinians, including 131 children.

For decades, Israel has occupied Palestine and lands in Syria and Lebanon, refusing to withdraw and to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the borders prior to the 1967 war.