- The demand for a Palestinian state increased
- Arab leaders asked to listen to the voice of the people of Palestine
- Even after 7 months, the Gaza war is not taking a break
Leaders of the Gulf countries gathered on Thursday for the 33rd Arab League Summit in Manama, the capital of Bahrain. The central issue of the summit was the Gaza war and the establishment of a Palestinian state. Inaugurating the summit, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged the international community to take steps to stop Israel’s aggression. Arab leaders at the summit have also spoken of considering the PLO as the voice of the Palestinian people instead of Hamas.
What is the demand?
A UN peace force should be deployed in the disputed area until the State of Palestine is established. The ‘Manama Declaration’ issued by the 22-member group called for the deployment of United Nations international security and peacekeeping forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories until a two-state solution is reached.
Will Hamas cease to exist?
The declaration appealed to all Palestinian groups to join the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The PLO is dominated by the Fatah faction, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also hails from this faction. The United Nations also considers the PLO to be the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. The PLO and Hamas have been at odds for decades. While the PLO seeks independence for Palestine through diplomatic means, Hamas advocates retaking its land through a military coup. In such a situation, if the Arab League proposal is accepted, the question is whether Hamas will cease to exist.
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
The PLO was founded in 1964 to bring together all groups fighting for the independence of Palestine. The PLO includes 11 groups from Palestine. The PLO initially wanted to destroy the State of Israel and establish an Arab state over the entire territory of Palestine. However, in 1993 the PLO under Yasser Arafat recognized Israel’s sovereignty with the Oslo Accords and now demands Arab statehood only in the Palestinian territories (West Bank and Gaza Strip) following the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.
The demand for a Palestinian state
To this day, Hamas has been talking about the establishment of a Palestinian state throughout the region and the uprooting of Israel from Arab lands. However, some Hamas leaders have also called for a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders in the ongoing cease-fire talks amid the Gaza War.
The demand for a Palestinian state intensified
Last week the United Nations Council overwhelmingly supported a proposal for Palestine to become a full member of the UN and called on the UN Security Council to reconsider it. Last month, the US vetoed a proposal to allow Palestine full membership.
Huge loss in Gaza war
Almost 7 months have passed since the Gaza war started after the Hamas attack on October 7, but the war shows no signs of stopping. Since the beginning of this war, about 36 thousand people have been killed in Gaza, including about 15 thousand children. 80 percent of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed by Israeli attacks, and Gazans depend on the outside world for even basic amenities.
