Arab foreign ministers, French president discuss moves to stop war in Gaza

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - The foreign ministers of Egypt, Qatar, Jordan and Saudi Arabia met Friday with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris to discuss moves to stop the war in the Gaza Strip.

Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement that the Arab diplomats discussed with Macron "the needed actions to halt Israeli war in Gaza."

The talks also focused on sustaining “unimpeded aid delivery (into Gaza), as well pushing the political track forward based on the two-state solution," he added.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his American counterpart, Joe Biden, agreed in a telephone call to temporarily deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza via Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing, according to an earlier statement from the Egyptian Presidency.

Rafah's vital border crossing with Egypt has been closed since Israel seized the Gazan side when it began a Rafah invasion on May 6.

The talks come in the wake of a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that ordered Tel Aviv to immediately cease its military offensives in Rafah.

Israel continued its brutal offensive on Gaza despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 35,850 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and nearly 80,300 others injured since October following an attack by Hamas.

More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of “genocide” at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.