Manama Declaration: Arab League calls for UN peacekeepers in Palestine

(Patria) - The Arab League on Thursday called for United Nations peacekeepers to be deployed to the Palestinian territories and for an international peace conference from the summit in Bahrain, Al Arabiya reported.

In a final statement after the summit in Manama, the twenty-two-member group called for "international United Nations protection and peacekeeping forces in the occupied Palestinian territories" until a two-state solution is implemented. A call by Bahrain's King Hamad and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to "convene an international conference under the auspices of the United Nations to resolve the Palestinian issue on the basis of the two-state solution" was also adopted.

The meeting of Arab heads of state and government was held in Bahrain more than seven months after the conflict in Gaza that has shaken the wider region. The Arab League also separately called for an "immediate" ceasefire in Gaza and an end to forced displacement in the Palestinian territory.

Abbas told the summit that his rival Hamas gave Israel "excuses and justifications" for waging war against Gaza with its October 7 attack. Hamas expressed "regret over these remarks," claiming the attack "put our Palestinian cause at the forefront of priorities, achieving strategic gains." It also welcomed the league's final statement and called on "brotherly Arab states to take the necessary measures to compel the (Israeli) occupation to stop the aggression."

Speaking at the summit, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the war in Gaza as an "open wound that threatens to infect the entire region," calling for the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages." Guterres said that "the only lasting way to break the cycle of violence and instability is through a two-state solution."

In response to calls for peacekeepers, a UN spokesperson said that any mission creation would depend on the "Security Council's mandate" and "the acceptance of the UN's presence by all parties."

The "Manama Declaration" issued by the Arab nations called on "all Palestinian factions to unite under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization," dominated by Abbas's Fatah movement, adding that they consider the PLO "the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people."

This is the first time the bloc has convened since an extraordinary summit in Riyadh, the capital of neighboring Saudi Arabia, in November, which was also attended by leaders of the fifty-seven-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation, headquartered in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

In a campaign they say is in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen has launched attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November. The summit in Bahrain "most strongly condemned the attacks on commercial ships," stating that they "threaten freedom of navigation, international trade, and the interests of the countries and peoples of the world."

The declaration added the Arab nations' commitment to "ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea" and surrounding areas.