TheLittleTwentieth – Renowned Papers Edition, AI Infused

Local sources from Egypt: PBS NewsHour, BBC.
UK coverage: BBC.

At a summit in Cairo on Saturday, Arab leaders expressed their rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians and pledged to work with all parties to maintain the operation of the Rafah crossing, which is crucial for the movement of aid into Gaza. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Jordanian King Abdullah II both warned against the “liquidation of the Palestinian cause” and called Israel’s siege and bombardment of Gaza “a war crime” according to international law.

This statement comes as a response to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the recent violence in the region. Egypt is especially concerned about a massive influx of Palestinians crossing into its territory, something that it fears would, among other things, severely undermine hopes for a Palestinian state. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant laid out a three-stage plan in which airstrikes and “maneuvering” would aim to root out Hamas before a period of lower intensity mop-up operations. Then, a new “security regime” would be created in Gaza along with “the removal of Israel’s responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip”.

The speeches reflected growing anger in the region, even among those with close ties to Israel who have often worked as mediators, as the war sparked by a massive Hamas attack enters a third week with casualties mounting and no end in sight. Jordan’s king expressed his “unequivocal rejection” of any displacement of Palestinians, while Egypt vehemently rejected “the forced displacement of the Palestinians and their transfer to Egyptian lands in Sinai”.

The Arab leaders’ statements come as Israel has ordered more than half of the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza to evacuate from north to south within the territory it has completely sealed off, effectively pushing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians toward the Egyptian border. Amos Gilad, a former Israeli defense official, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to speak directly with the leaders of Egypt and Jordan, and say publicly that Palestinians will not be entering their countries.

Two senior Egyptian officials said relations with Israel have reached a boiling point. They said Egypt has conveyed its frustration over Israeli comments about displacement to the United States, which brokered Camp David Accords in the 1970s. Arab countries also fear a repeat of the mass exodus of Palestinians from what is now Israel before and during the 1948 war surrounding its creation, when some 700,000 fled or were driven out, an event Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, or catastrophe.

At Saturday’s gathering, the anger extended beyond the fears of mass displacement. Both leaders condemned Israel’s air campaign in Gaza, which has killed more than 4,300 Palestinians, including many civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza. Israel says it is only striking Hamas targets and is abiding by international law. King Abdullah accused Israel of “collective punishment of a besieged and helpless people” and said it was a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law” and “a war crime”.

The Arab leaders’ statements come as a response to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the recent violence in the region. The summit in Cairo offered a glimpse into the growing anger in the region, even among those with close ties to Israel who have often worked as mediators, as the war sparked by a massive Hamas attack enters a third week with casualties mounting and no end in sight.