courtesy: al jazeera
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Arabs leaders at Cairo summit condemned the bombarding of Israel in Gaza on Saturday as the European leader argued that the civilians must be sheltered. However, with Israel and U.S. representative being absent from the summit, there was no agreement over containing the violence.
Egypt, which called and hosted the meeting, said it had hoped participants would call for peace and resume efforts to resolve the decades-long Palestinian quest for statehood.
But the meeting ended without leaders and foreign ministers agreeing a joint statement, two weeks into the conflict with thousands already dead in the besieged Gaza that is home to 2.3 Palestinians.
The diplomats at the meeting were not optimistic of the breakthrough, with Israel preparing a ground invasion of Gaza aimed at wiping out the militant Palestinian groups Hamas that launched an attack on Israel on October 7, killing more than 1,300 of its people.
On Saturday, the first aid was allowed to enter the enclaved region of Gaza. Only 20 of the 200 trucks with desperately needed humanitarian aid were allowed in the region as its border with Egypt opened by Israeli officials.
While the Arab and Muslim leaders called for an immediate end to Israel’s offensive, Western countries were mostly concerned with aid for civilians.