Politics

Cairo summit exposes deep rifts over Israel's war on Gaza

The summit is the first international gathering to be held at such a scale since Israel unleashed a ferocious military campaign in Gaza

Reuters

International and regional leaders pose for a group photo during the Cairo International Summit for peace in the Middle East on 21 October 2023.

Cairo summit exposes deep rifts over Israel's war on Gaza

Amr Emam

last update on 22 Oct 2023

The failure of the Cairo Summit for Peace, held on Saturday in Egypt at the invitation of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, to produce a unified message about an immediate ceasefire in Gaza is indicative of deep rifts between Arab and Western countries on the Israeli onslaught on the Palestinian territory.

A closed meeting of the leaders and country representatives attending the summit in the New Administrative Capital, a megacity constructed in the vast Egyptian desert, was expected to produce a communiqué that would have stressed the importance of stopping the war and strongly denounced the killing of civilians on both sides.

Instead, the Egyptian presidency released a statement, saying that by calling for the summit, Egypt sought to build an international consensus that transcends cultures, races, religions, and political stances.

It added that Cairo sought to build unanimity that calls for ending the current war that has claimed the lives of thousands of innocent civilians on both sides so far.

"Egypt looked forward for the participants to launch a global call for peace, in which they agree on the importance of reassessing the international strategy for addressing the Palestinian issue over the past decades," the Egyptian presidency said in the statement.

The Egyptian statement warned of the serious consequences if the conflict expanded to other areas in the region and criticised the approach of "managing" the Palestinian-Israeli conflict rather than finding a "just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue."

AFP — Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, speaks to the press after attending the International Peace Summit in Cairo on October 21, 2023.

Deep divisions

The emergency summit brought together dozens of world leaders and top government officials.

It is the first international gathering to be held at such a scale since Israel unleashed a ferocious military campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October attacks by Hamas.

Nonetheless, some leaders and country representatives speaking in the event's general session had seen things differently, even as all speakers agreed on the need for allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The Egyptian statement warned of the serious consequences if the conflict expanded to other areas in the region and criticised the approach of "managing" the Palestinian-Israeli conflict rather than finding a "just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue."

Reuters — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi greets United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the Cairo international summit for peace in the Middle East in Cairo on 21 October, 2023.

Arab leaders and country representatives were, however, more focused on the toll Israeli attacks were having on the enclave's civilian population, the need to offer international protection to the people of Gaza and the requirement of establishing an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital, as well as they were keen to lambast attacks on civilians on both sides.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani spotlighted these rifts succinctly by saying when it comes to Israel's actions "they are viewed as self-defence".

"Nonetheless, when it comes to Palestinian actions, the whole thing is viewed as terrorism," Al-Sudani said.

Main protagonists absent

Several influential regional players were present at the Cairo Summit for Peace, especially Egypt and Jordan, the two countries that abut Israel and the Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip.

Other countries with influence in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict were also attending or being represented, such as Qatar, which hosts senior Hamas leaders.

Nevertheless, observers and former peace negotiators say the two warring parties — Israel and Hamas — were conspicous by their abscense.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was present, but whether he wields any influence in Gaza or over Hamas is questionable.

The way the summit attendees were seated looked like an incomplete circle, indicating that something was missing and showing that the same attendees needed to be joined in by other players to complete the circle.

Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad appeared at the main reception ahead of the summit, shook hands with his host, and attended the photo session before the general session. He later left the summit and didn't deliver a speech.

The US was not represented by senior officials at the summit.

US Chargé d'Affaires Ambassador Beth Jones condemned Hamas at her speech, saying the movement's actions on October 7 "demonstrated Hamas' disregard for the safety and wellbeing of the Palestinian people, whom it placed in harm's way and in the crosshairs of Israel's efforts to defend itself and its citizens."

"Palestinian civilians are not to blame and should not suffer for Hamas' horrific terrorism. President Biden cautioned Israel not to become blinded by rage. Civilian lives must be protected, and assistance must urgently reach those in need," she added.

Arab leaders were focused on the toll Israeli attacks were having on the enclave's civilian population, the need to offer international protection to the people of Gaza and the requirement of establishing an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.

The summit kicked off only two hours after humanitarian aid started to trickle into the Gaza Strip, having been stuck at the Egyptian side of the border for days before that.

Egypt made an effort in the past days to deliver the aid, with Gaza's population of over 2.3 million deprived of all essential supplies and the health system in the blockaded territory facing total collapse. In recent days, the Egyptian authorities stated that Israel was not cooperating with delivery of aid into Gaza and evacuations of foreign passport holders via the only entry it does not wholly control, leaving the much needed supplies stuck.

Apart from the hundreds of tonnes of humanitarian aid that have already arrived in Arish, a few kilometres away from the Rafah crossing point on the border with Gaza, observers say the Cairo summit succeeded in putting the need for aiding Gaza in sharp focus.

Even with Israel's stringent conditions, the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza is a national security issue for Egypt, which strongly rejects potential plans to transfer Palestinians out of Gaza to Sinai.

El-Sisi's assertion that his country would not allow the "killing of the Palestinian issue" and the "destruction of Palestinian statehood dreams "at the expense of neighbouring countries was the mainstay of his address.

"I want to state it clearly and unequivocally to the world and articulate in sincere terms the will of all the Egyptian people, every single Egyptian, that the liquidation of the Palestinian cause without a just solution is beyond the realm of possibility," el-Sisi said.

"In all cases, this will never happen at the expense of Egypt, absolutely not," he added affirmatively.

PA President Abbas was most expressive of the Palestinians' steadfastness and their rejection of leaving their land when he repeated, "The Palestinians will not leave their land" three times at the end of his speech.

Reviving statehood dream

PA President Abbas was most expressive of the Palestinians' steadfastness and their rejection of leaving their land when he repeated, "The Palestinians will not leave their land" three times at the end of his speech.

King Abdullah II of Jordan echoed this call. The Jordanian monarch also joined the list of leaders highlighting the need to sustainably end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, namely by establishing an independent Palestinian state that lives side by side with Israel.

AFP — Seen on a large screen, the King of Jordan, Abdullah II arrives to attend the International Peace Summit hosted by the Egyptian president in Cairo on October 21, 2023.

This was almost the first time in many months that the two-state solution was underscored by such a large number of politicians and decision-makers despite the poignancy surrounding the summit.

Despite the summit's failure to produce a unified message on the need to stop the war, protect the Palestinians, the calls made for a resumption of pursuing a two-state solution, dropped a stone in the still waters of Palestinian-Israeli peace.

+ / -