Highlights:
Arab, Muslim leaders say Israel must withdraw from occupied territories before ‘comprehensive’ peace
They called on Israel to withdraw fully from Arab territories it has occupied since 1967 to achieve “comprehensive” regional peace, during a summit in Saudi Arabia.
The summit’s closing statement said that “a just and comprehensive peace in the region … cannot be achieved without ending the Israeli occupation of all occupied Arab territories to the line of June 4, 1967” – the West Bank and east Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights – and “in accordance with … the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative” that offered Israel regional normalization in return for Palestinian statehood.
Immediate Ceasefire
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler called for immediate ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon at the joint Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit on Monday.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the international community must “immediately halt the Israeli actions against our brothers in Palestine and Lebanon”, condemning Israel’s campaign in Gaza as “genocide”.
Occupied West Bank
But Far-right minister calls for Israeli sovereignty in West Bank in 2025
Israel’s far-right finance minister said on Monday that he hopes Israel will extend sovereignty into the occupied West Bank in 2025.
At a meeting of his far-right faction in parliament on Monday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he had instructed Israeli authorities overseeing West Bank settlements “to begin professional and comprehensive staff work to prepare the necessary infrastructure” for extending sovereignty, according to a statement from his office.
Smotrich, who also wields a defense ministry supervisory role for settlers, said he hopes the incoming Trump administration in Washington will recognize an Israeli sovereignty push, the statement said.
Sanctions against violent Israeli settlers
France’s foreign minister said on Monday that a new round of sanctions targeting violent Israeli settlers could happen soon.
“We were instrumental in setting up the (EU) sanctions regime that was already activated two times, and that might be activated a third time soon,” Jean-Noel Barrot told the Paris Peace Forum.
“We believe that those violent settlers and these intensive settlement activities are illegal, that it should stop in the interest of Israel and its security.”
Growing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank and land grabs in the occupied territory have raised concern among some of Israel’s Western allies.
Iran condemns Israeli assassinations as ‘organized terrorism’
First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref a top Iranian official condemned Israel’s assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders as “organized terrorism”, in remarks to a joint Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit on Monday.
UN warns of devastating impacts of war on children in Lebanon
The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, said on Thursday that the Israel-Hezbollah conflict has killed at least one child a day in Lebanon over the past month.
It warned that the “ongoing war in Lebanon is upending children’s lives” and taking a devastating physical and emotional toll on minors.
As the conflict continues, pediatricians and volunteers are reporting more cases of psychological trauma, FRANCE 24’s Carys Garland reports.
Israel must not attack Iran
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler on Monday called on Israel to respect Iran’s sovereignty and refrain from attacking Iranian soil, highlighting warming ties between the Middle East rivals.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told a summit of Arab and Muslim leaders that the international community should oblige Israel “to respect the sovereignty of the sisterly Islamic Republic of Iran and not to violate its lands”.Saudi Arabia and Iran have maintained high-level contact as part of efforts to contain the war that broke out in Gaza following Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year.
Lufthansa extends suspension of Tel Aviv flights
German airline group Lufthansa said on Monday it was extending the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv up to and including December 15, due to Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
The extension applied to all airlines within the group, which includes SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Eurowings. Previously, all of the group’s flights had been suspended up to and including November 25. Its flights to the Iranian capital have also already been suspended until the end of January next year, while services to the Lebanese capital Beirut have been suspended until the end of February.
Lebanon’s existence as a sate
Lebanon’s Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Monday warned that his country was suffering an “unprecedented” crisis that threatens its existence, as Israel wages war on Hezbollah.
“Lebanon is going through an unprecedented historical and existential crisis that threatens its present and future,” he told a joint Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit in Riyadh.
France24/ News Agencies
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