By Ibrahim Khazen and Mohammad Sio
CAIRO (AA) - Arab foreign ministers convened in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Monday for a preparatory meeting ahead of an emergency Arab League summit on developments in the Palestinian issue, marking Syria’s first participation since the fall of the Baath regime.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Qatar participated in the preparatory session for the Arab League Council’s extraordinary meeting on Palestine.
According to the statement, Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohamed Al-Khulaifi reaffirmed Doha’s unwavering stance in support of Palestinian rights, including the establishment of an independent state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Earlier Monday, Syria’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani had arrived at the Arab League’s headquarters in Cairo for the ministerial session ahead of Tuesday’s summit.
Shaibani’s visit marks the first by a Syrian official to Egypt since the collapse of the Assad regime in December last year.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is expected to attend Tuesday’s summit, Syria’s official news agency SANA reported.
On Sunday, Jordan’s state-run Al-Mamlaka TV quoted an unnamed Arab League official as saying that the meeting would be closed to the media.
Egypt is hosting Tuesday’s summit to address “serious and evolving developments in the Palestinian issue,” Egypt’s State Information Service said Monday.
According to the agency, leaders will seek a unified Arab stance rejecting displacement and affirming legal and international measures to prevent Palestinians from being forced from their lands.
The summit will also discuss Gaza’s reconstruction while ensuring that Palestinians remain in their territories, as well as reinforcing the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and preventing violations.
Last month, US President Donald Trump proposed to “take over” Gaza and resettle its population to develop it into a tourist destination, an idea vehemently rejected by the Arab world and many other nations, who say it amounts to ethnic cleansing.
Nearly 48,400 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 111,000 others injured in a brutal Israeli war on Gaza since October 2023. The onslaught, which left the enclave in ruins, was paused under a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold on Jan. 19.
Israel, however, halted the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza on Sunday, hours after the first phase of the ceasefire agreement expired.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.