Arab leaders call for immediate end to war in Gaza
- Last updated: May 17, 2025 | 16:01
Arab leaders at a summit in Iraq's capital Baghdad called on Saturday for an immediate end to the war in Gaza, accusing Israel in starker language of trying to drive the Palestinians out of the enclave altogether after it ramped up its bombing campaign.
Israel has killed hundreds of Palestinians since Thursday in one of the deadliest waves of bombardment since a truce collapsed in March, even as US President Donald Trump wrapped up a Middle East tour on Friday.
In March, an emergency Arab League summit in Cairo endorsed a plan for Gaza's reconstruction without displacing its roughly 2 million residents.
The summit in Baghdad was attended by Arab leaders including Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi.
Among the guests were Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who called for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza and the flow of aid into the besieged territory. He said that the UN rejects any "forced displacement" of Palestinians.
Egyptian President Sisi, whose country is one of the main mediators in Gaza peace talks, described Israel's actions as "systematic crimes" aimed at "obliterating and annihilating" the Palestinians and "ending their existence in the Gaza Strip." He said that Egypt plans to hold an international conference for the reconstruction of Gaza "once the aggression stops."
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani, the summit's host, said Israel was engaged in genocide.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who addressed the summit, said "nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Hamas to abandon power in Gaza and along with other groups to hand over weapons to the Palestinian Authority.
Hamas seized control of Gaza from Abbas' Western-backed Palestinian Authority in 2007, and reconciliation attempts between the rivals have repeatedly failed.
After a six-week ceasefire, Israel imposed a total blockade of Gaza and resumed its military campaign in March. It blames Hamas fighters for harm to civilians for operating among them, which Hamas denies.
Israel faces growing international pressure to resume ceasefire talks and allow food and medical supplies into Gaza.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher asked the Security Council this week if it would act to "prevent genocide."
Iraq's prime minister announced the creation of a fund to help reconstruct Arab states after war, with an initial pledge of $20 million each for Gaza and Lebanon, where swathes of the south were destroyed last year in an Israeli campaign against the Hizbollah group.
Agencies