The Arab Parliament outlined to the Palestinian ambassador in Cairo steps of support in order to bring an end to the “aggression on the Gaza Strip”.
Head of Arab Parliament Ahmed Mohamed Al-Jarwan met with Palestinian Ambassador to Cairo Jamal Shobaki and told him: “We put all of our resources under the disposal of the Palestinian leadership, led by [Palestinian Authority] President Mahmoud Abbas to serve the aspirations of the Palestinian people,” a statement by the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo said on Tuesday.
Shobaki asserted the intention of the Palestinian leadership to “end the occupation by going to the [United Nations] Security Council and the international community”. Abbas is expected to request that the United Nations implement the provisions of the 1967 borders, including the evacuation of Israeli troops from the Palestinian territories.
Al-Jawran said: “We all stand at the same line and same language and we do not go outside the Palestinian leadership’s political discourse.”
The Palestinian ambassador provided Al-Jawran with updates on the “brutal Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip” and “on all the efforts to end the aggression and announce a ceasefire”.
Except for some days in which Israeli army and Palestinian factions in Gaza upheld a ceasefire, fighting has raged in the Gaza Strip for the past 50 days, after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a military operation in the besieged strip on 7 July. As of Tuesday, at least 2,133 Palestinians had been killed and 67 Israelis.
Fighting resumed on 19 August when the latest ceasefire collapsed, after which Egypt urged the two sides to agree to a ceasefire with no deadline in an attempt to end the “spilling of the innocent blood of the Palestinian people”.
Although the talks are now stalled, Egypt has hosted indirect talks between the Palestinians and Israelis, with an internationally backed Egyptian ceasefire initiative being the basis of talks.
Spokeswoman of the United States Department of State said Secretary of State John Kerry “has remained engaged with the Israelis, the Palestinians, with a range of countries that have a stake in seeing a peaceful outcome”.
“Egyptians count as a counterpart that has a stake in the outcome,” she said, adding: “We remain focused on the efforts the Egyptians are leading”.