Arab League to hold emergency meeting on Jerusalem on May 17

5/16/2018 - 3:48:28 PM

The Cairo-based Arab League (AL) will hold an emergency meeting on May 17 to discuss the situation of Jerusalem after the United States moved its embassy to Israel to the disputable holy city, official MENA news agency reported on May 15.

Palestinians clash with Israeli troops near the Gaza-Israel border, east of Gaza City, on May 14, 2018. (Photo:Xinhua)

The meeting has been called for by Saudi Arabia and it is expected to discuss possible ways to confront the recent US relocation of its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, MENA quoted a diplomatic source as saying.

The meeting will be preceded by a preparatory meeting at the level of permanent representatives of Arab member states, according to the source.

Washington inaugurated its embassy in Jerusalem on May 14, amid protests of tens of thousands of Palestinians at the Israeli borders with the besieged Gaza Strip, which left at least 63 dead and around 2,800 wounded.

The Israeli aggression against unarmed Gazans has been met with regional and international outrage.

The protests coincided with the 70th anniversary of Israel's declaration of independence, one day before the Palestinian "Nakba (Catastrophe) Day," which marks the expulsion of some 750,000 Palestinians from their homes to become refugees in 1948.

The international community holds Israel responsible for the deadlock of the peace process with the Palestinians due to its settlement expansion policy on occupied Palestinian territories.

The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital city in the light of the UN-proposed two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders.

Meanwhile, Turkey will host an emergency summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul on May 18 over Israeli violence on the Gaza border, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced on May 15.

Yildirim has invited his counterparts from five countries, Bangladesh, Morocco, Pakistan, Qatar and Algeria, to join the emergency summit by phone, state-run Anadolu Agency reported citing the Turkish Prime Ministry.

Source: NDO

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