CAIRO/ISTANBUL 

An Arab emergency meeting on Sunday condemned Israel’s plan to occupy the Gaza Strip as “a blatant act of aggression” against all Arab states and a threat to regional security and stability.

In a final statement issued after the Cairo meeting at the level of permanent representatives, participants called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop its genocidal war and starvation policy against Palestinians in Gaza.

The pan-Arab body condemned “the decisions and plans of the Israeli occupation government to impose full military control over the Gaza Strip, displace the Palestinian people, and commit crimes of aggression, genocide, and ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including the city of Jerusalem.”

These decisions and plans “constitute a violation of international law and conventions, a blatant act of aggression against all Arab states, their national security, and political and economic interests, and a threat to security, peace, and stability in the region,” it stressed.

On Friday, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to occupy Gaza City fully, drawing sharp international backlash from governments and human rights bodies.

The Arab League renewed its support for joint Egyptian-Qatari mediation efforts aimed at reaching a ceasefire and halting the Israeli onslaught against the Palestinian people.

It called on the international community, especially the US, “to pressure Israel, the occupying power, to cease its aggression and crimes against the Palestinian people… and end its illegal occupation.”

Israel has been facing mounting outrage over its deadly war on Gaza, where it has killed more than 61,400 people since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave and brought it to the verge of famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.