Arab League warns UN Security Council of Israeli actions undermining peace efforts

The Arab League has warned the UN Security Council that ongoing Israeli military operations and settlement expansion threaten to derail fragile hopes for peace in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories.

Speaking at an open session on the Middle East on Monday, the Arab League’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Osama Abdel Khaleq, said the ceasefire agreement reached at the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit on 13 October represents a “glimmer of hope,” but remains “fragile” as it applies only to Gaza and fails to address the wider Palestinian question.

Abdel Khaleq noted that the first phase of the agreement included the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees, aimed at facilitating a humanitarian response. He stressed the urgent need to end starvation and violence, ensure the unhindered delivery of aid, and begin reconstruction efforts as a foundation for final-status negotiations based on the two-state solution.

He strongly criticized the policies of Israel’s far-right government, urging it to abandon its “daydreams of achieving Greater Israel” and warning that “military dominance, supported externally, will not bring stability.”

The envoy also cautioned that Israeli actions across Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and most recently Qatar could trigger a wider regional confrontation with “dire consequences.”

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Abdel Khaleq condemned Israel’s withholding of billions of dollars in Palestinian tax revenues, calling it a move that empowers “extremist forces” while undermining the Palestinian Authority, which he said requires robust Arab and international support.

He praised US President Donald Trump’s efforts to advance a political settlement and reiterated the need for Palestine’s full UN membership on the basis of the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The Arab League representative warned that Israel’s ongoing settlement expansion, collective punishment, and restrictions on reconstruction would not deter the Palestinian people from pursuing their “legitimate and inalienable rights.”

Abdel Khaleq further condemned provocative incursions by extremist Israeli ministers into Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Nativity Church, saying such actions “deepen hatred” and threaten the prospects for peaceful coexistence.

He concluded by calling on the Security Council to take “concrete measures” to ensure the implementation of the Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement and to support renewed efforts toward a comprehensive political settlement.

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