A meeting of world leaders dubbed the “Cairo Summit for Peace,” held in the Egyptian capital on Saturday, ended with participants failing to issue a joint statement on the conflict between Israel and multiple jihadist terror groups because Arab leaders at the summit refused to condemn Hamas, multiple reports indicated.
Egyptian strongman Abdel Fattah al-Sisi convened the summit to respond to the conflict, which escalated significantly this month. Egypt, the only country other than Israel to border Gaza, has greatly limited humanitarian aid into Hamas-controlled Gaza and refused to give shelter to Palestinian refugees; Sisi himself has suggested stranding Palestinians in the Negev desert rather than letting them into Egypt. Egypt finally allowed 20 trucks of humanitarian aid to enter Gaza through the Rafah border crossing on Saturday after United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held a dramatic press conference at the border on Friday demanding it open.
On October 7, Hamas, a Sunni jihadist terrorist gang, launched a large-scale terrorist assault on Israel targeting civilians, particularly the defenseless, including infants, the disabled, and the elderly. The attack, which Hamas calls the “al-Aqsa flood,” featured terrorists killing entire families in door-to-door attacks on residential communities, opening fire on crowds at a peace music festival, and decapitating babies.
Over 1,400 people, Israelis and foreigners, were killed in the attack, and hundreds remain captives of Hamas, believed to be in Gaza.
Leaders pose for a family photo during Cairo Peace Summit in the New Administrative Capital, east of the Egyptian capital Cairo on October 21, 2023. The Cairo Peace Summit began with international, Arab and UN participation to discuss the latest developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
In response, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have begun attacks against Hamas terrorists, who are headquartered in and control Gaza, and have urged Palestinian civilians in Gaza to flee as Hamas terrorists routinely use civilian sites such as schools and churches to stockpile weapons and otherwise engage in terrorist.
The Arab participants in the “Cairo Summit for Peace” – Sisi, Jordanian King Abdullah II, Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas, and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, among others – used the summit to demand Israel immediately halt any operations against Hamas and cede territory to the terrorist organization. Their statements notably omitted condemnation of the “al-Aqsa flood.”
In addition to the aforementioned countries, the summit brought together representatives from Qatar, Russia, China, South Africa, and several European states, including the prime ministers of Greece and Italy, a European Union Representative, and German and British envoys. American officials were reportedly also present. Notably absent was any representative from the government of Israel.
The participants did not publish a joint statement at the conclusion of the one-day summit. The Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on Saturday evening that, according to an anonymous diplomat, the reason for the lack of a statement was that Arab leaders refused to agree to “a clear condemnation placing responsibility for the escalation on Hamas.”
RELATED: Man Rips Posters Featuring Israeli Kidnapping Victims at University of Pennsylvania Campus
The Egyptian state-owned newspaper al-Ahram similarly reported that Arab leaders’ intransigence in accepting a sentence condemning Hamas doomed an attempt to publish a joint statement calling for peace in the region.
“While leaders of the Arab countries at the Cairo Summit for Peace have focused on the need to halt the war in Gaza and return to negotiations, most of the European officials in attendance were more keen on condemning Hamas for its 7th of October attack inside Israel and defending Israel’s ‘right to self-defense’ [sic],” Ahram reported. “These differences between the Arab and European delegations hindered the issuance of a final communique for the summit.”
In addition to anonymous sources, Ahram cited comments by Egyptian Presidential Spokesman Ahmed Fahmy following the summit in which he said that participants in the meeting disagreed on “the level of condemnations” for parties to the dispute.
“Some want to condemn only one party and one action on a particular day as if the narrative started on that day,” Fahmy reportedly said, without elaborating. Fahmy nonetheless claimed the summit was a success because it had helped in “increasing areas of understanding.”
The omission of any direct mentions of Hamas in the statements by Arab leaders at the summit was notable.
“Egypt condemns, in the clearest terms, the targeting, killing, and intimidation of all peaceful civilians. At the same time, Egypt expresses its deep shock that the world is standing by idly, while the catastrophic humanitarian crisis unfolds,” Sisi said, according to al-Ahram.
Sisi, who has enthusiastically rejected the possibility of welcoming Palestinian refugees into Egypt, used his remarks at the summit to reiterate that his government will not offer a safe haven to Palestinians.
“The liquidation of the Palestinian cause without a just solution is beyond the realm of possibility, and in all cases, it will never happen at the expense of Egypt,” Sisi asserted, claiming that Palestinians would not leave Gaza for safety.
“Anyone who believes that the Palestinian people, who are proud, steadfast, and resilient, would be willing to abandon their land, even under occupation or bombardment, is mistaken in their understanding of the nature of this people,” Sisi claimed.
Sisi also demanded “the full, safe, unfettered, and sustainable flow of humanitarian aid and relief to the people of Gaza,” which his government, in control of the Rafah border crossing, has largely refused to allow. Sisi claimed “Egypt has never closed the Rafah border crossing,” a claim his government has repeatedly made while simultaneously preventing anyone from entering or leaving Gaza through the border.
King Abdullah of Jordan, whose country borders the West Bank Palestinian territory and who has also refused to take in any Palestinian refugees, declared “all civilian lives matter” at the summit, a response to calls to honor the over 1,400 killed by Hamas.
“The Arab world hears it clearly: Palestinian lives are worth less than Israeli lives. Our lives are worth less than other lives … human rights have limits: they stop at borders, races and religions,” the king claimed.
In contrast, European representatives emphasized the need to end Hamas’s violence against civilians, including hostages who remain under Hamas control.
U.S. Charge d’Affaires to Egypt Beth Jones seen attending the International Peace Summit hosted by the Egyptian president in the New Administrative Capital (NAC), about 45 kilometres east of Cairo, on October 21, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)
“The cause of all the suffering of these past weeks, the suffering that brings us here today, the suffering of the little girls, the mother, and the family, has a name – it was Hamas,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in her remarks.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni insisted that Israel had a right to “exist and defend itself,” and Hamas was not just a threat to Israel but to Europe and the greater West.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis asserted, “no peace can be discussed until they (the Hamas hostages) are free.”
Follow Frances Martel on Facebook and Twitter.
