Several Arab foreign ministers, gathered in Rome on the sidelines of the G7 meeting, called today for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon and for humanitarian aid to be provided to the Palestinians.
Ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the secretary-general of the Arab League, took part in the conference in Rome before joining the G7 ministers in the town of Fiuggi.
“Gaza is now a graveyard of children, a graveyard of human values, a graveyard of international law,” said Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.
The Middle East conflict is high on the agenda for the G7 at a time when there are reports of possible progress in efforts to establish a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Israel’s ambassador to the United States (US) Michael Herzog said an agreement could be reached in the next few days.
The deputy speaker of the Lebanese parliament, Elias Boussab, accused Israel of stepping up its bombing of Lebanon to pressure the government in Beirut to accept concessions in indirect talks with Hezbollah.
“We are close to a decisive moment for reaching a ceasefire,” the Lebanese official said.
He said the Lebanese side was optimistic and hopeful, but that nothing was guaranteed with a figure like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel has carried out heavy attacks on central Beirut in recent days, and Hezbollah has stepped up its rocket fire into Israel.
The United States, meanwhile, is trying to broker a deal under which Hezbollah and Israeli forces would withdraw from southern Lebanon and Lebanese soldiers and UN peacekeepers would patrol the area.
“We all hope and pray that this ceasefire will be reached because if it is not, it will mean more destruction and more animosity and more dehumanization and more hatred and more bitterness, which will lead to the ruin of the future of the region, to more conflict and more killing,” Safadi said.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelati confirmed that Cairo will host a ministerial conference next Monday on mobilizing international aid for Gaza.
He called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, the release of hostages and the provision of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, and the start of what he called a serious and genuine political process for the creation of a Palestinian state.
