Cairo summit participants fail to agree on statement condemning Hamas

Arab diplomats say an international summit in Cairo on the Israel-Hamas war broke up without a joint statement as Arab and Western countries split on whether to condemn Hamas.

Western delegates demanded “a clear condemnation placing responsibility for the escalation on Hamas” but Arab leaders refused, a diplomat tells AFP on condition of anonymity.

Instead the Egyptian hosts released a statement — drafted with the approval of Arab delegates — criticizing world leaders for seeking to “manage the conflict and not end it permanently.”

The statement says such “temporary solutions and palliatives… do not live up to even the lowest aspirations” of the Palestinian people.