Cairo peace summit ends without Gaza breakthrough
A summit of international leaders in Cairo to discuss the Gaza war ended on Saturday night without any consensus towards averting an Israeli ground invasion.
First deliveries of humanitarian aid arrive in Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt on Oct. 21, 2023. Photo by Majdi Fathi/TPS
No joint statement was issued as Arab and Western leaders failed to even agree on language condemning Hamas’s attack on Israeli communities.
An Egyptian commentator explained that a number of countries including the United States, Great Britain and Germany refused to accept a clause calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Instead, the Egyptian government issued its own statement criticizing the international community for preferring to “manage the conflict and not end it permanently.”
A “temporary solutions and palliatives… do not live up to even the lowest aspirations” of the Palestinians, the statement added.
In response, Lior Haiat, a spokesperson for Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on X — formerly called Twitter — that the Hamas attack of Oct. 7 “a wakeup call to the world to fight terrorism together.”
Wrote Haiat, “The Islamist terror threat does not only endanger Israel, it endangers the states of the region and the whole world. It is unfortunate that even when faced with those horrific atrocities, there were some who had difficulty condemning terrorism or acknowledging the danger. Israel will do what it has to do and expects the international community to recognize the righteous battle.”
Israel has been striking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip since an October 7 assault by Hamas that caught Israelis off-guard. Fighting raged for days as the Israel Defense Forces initially struggled to clear out the terrorists. More than 1,400 Israelis were killed and over 4,800 more injured. Over 200 hostages were taken to Gaza.
