In a first, Arab League countries condemn Oct. 7 attack, call on Hamas to disarm
The move comes amid growing signs that world leaders are increasing willing to jolt the Israeli-Palestinian conflict quagmire in new ways
Participant Foreign Ministers pose for a family photo during a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Arab League states in Kuwait, Jan. 30, 2022. Photo by Kuwait Foreign Ministry/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(JTA) — The 22-nation Arab League has signed onto a declaration that condemns Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and calls on Hamas to disarm.
The league includes Qatar and Egypt, which have served as mediators in talks between Israel and Hamas during the subsequent war in Gaza. It also includes Turkey, which has adopted a stance of overt hostility toward Israel during the war.
The league joined the entire European Union and 17 other countries in backing the declaration at a United Nations meeting hosted by Saudi Arabia and France. The meeting’s goal included discussion of a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, an objective that not all Arab League states had previously endorsed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes a two-state solution and his government panned the U.N. confab as a form of appeasement. The United States also boycotted the meeting, held in New York.
A range of voices, including France, the Israeli Hostages and Missing Families Forum and liberal pro-Israel pundits, heralded the Arab League’s participation as a remarkable breakthrough.
The declaration comes amid growing signs that world leaders are increasing willing to jolt the conflict’s quagmire in new ways. In the last week, France, the United Kingdom and Canada all said they would unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly in September, in some cases attaching conditions to their vow.
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