Israel Facing Growing Arab Pressure Over War Against Hamas
By Worthy News’ George Whitten and Stefan J. Bos
JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Worthy News) – Two Western allies that made peace with Israel decades ago are losing patience with its two-week-old war against Hamas.
Egypt and Jordan harshly criticized the Jewish nation Sunday over its retaliatory strikes in Gaza after Hamas group gunmen killed 1,400 people in Israel in the worst atrocity against Jews since the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who hosted the Cairo Peace Summit, rejected any talk of driving Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians into the Sinai Peninsula.
He warned against the “liquidation of the Palestinian cause” after Israel’s military asked more than a million people in northern Gaza to move south, saying it seeks to avoid civilian casualties but wants to destroy Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israeli troops that his people of the Jewish nation are in a battle for their lives and added, “The war against Hamas was do or die.”
Egypt fears a massive influx of Palestinians crossing into its territory would severely undermine hopes for a Palestinian state and lead to a refugee crisis. Jordan’s King Abdullah II called Israel’s “siege” and bombardment of Gaza “a war crime.”
NO HAMAS CONDEMNATION
But, there appeared to be no willingness among most delegates to condemn Hamas over its attack against Israel. Yet, tensions emerged when Egypt’s former Foreign Minister Ahmed Abu El-Ajit, secretary-general of the Arab League, took the floor.
Online media footage purportedly showed that when he referred to the “Palestinian resistance factions” as “terrorist organizations,” Qatar’s ruler left the gathering in a rage.
Qatari and Egyptian sources tried to play down the alleged incident, with Egypt’s presidential spokesperson saying the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, left as he had other obligations.
Most speeches at the summit reflected anger toward Israel after Palestinian officials claimed more than 4,600 people died in Israeli air strikes. The figures are at least in part based on data released by the Hamas-ruled health ministry.
In a statement, Arab leaders were “condemning Israel’s bombardment of Gaza” and demanding renewed efforts to end a “decades-long cycle of violence.”
Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned Israel and the United States that the Middle East may spiral out of control if Israel doesn’t immediately halt its military action.
SEVERAL NATIONS
Israel was not among those attending.
But several of its Western allies, including France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, joined representatives from countries such as China, Russia, Jordan, Qatar, and South Africa with United Nations and European Union officials.
Despite the tensions, the United Nations announced the arrival of 14 more trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza from Egypt.
The charity Oxfam welcomed the move, as well as Saturday’s first load of aid, but said sending “a few trucks a day is simply not sufficient.”
The U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said it was “another small glimmer of hope” for Palestinians but warned they still need “more, much more.”
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