From the Liveblog of
Thursday, May 16, 2024
Arab League calls for UN peacekeepers to be deployed in West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem
The Arab League has called for a United Nations peacekeeping force in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem during a summit dominated by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
The “Manama Declaration” issued by the 22-member bloc called for “international protection and peacekeeping forces of the United Nations in the occupied Palestinian territories” until a two-state solution is implemented.
The declaration also calls on “all Palestinian factions to join under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization,” which is dominated by Hamas’s political rivals, the ruling Fatah movement.
The Arab League adds that it considered the PLO “the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.”
The summit in Bahrain “strongly condemned the attacks on commercial ships,” by the Houthis, saying they “threaten freedom of navigation, international trade, and the interests of countries and peoples of the world.”
The declaration adds the Arab nations’ commitment to “ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea” and surrounding areas.
The Times of Israel Community.