33rd Arab Summit commences tomorrow in Bahrain with Palestinian cause at top of agenda

The 33rd session of the Arab League Summit of Heads of State will commence on Thursday in the Bahraini capital, Manama.The Summit will discuss various issues related to joint Arab action in political, economic, social, cultural, and security fields.The 33rd Summit convenes in Bahrain amidst serious conditions and challenges facing the region, necessitating constructive decisions that contribute to enhancing Arab solidarity and supporting efforts to achieve peace, security, and stability in the region, especially in Gaza, Sudan, and other Arab countries.The Palestinian cause and the Arab-Israeli conflict and its developments are expected to top the Summit's agenda. Their Majesties, Highnesses, and Excellencies, the leaders of the participating Arab countries and the heads of delegations, will discuss several topics in this regard, including the political developments of the Palestinian issue, activating the Arab Peace Initiative, ongoing Israeli violations in the occupied city of Jerusalem, continuous aggression on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, efforts to achieve ceasefire and provide aid to the sector, as well as supporting the budget of the State of Palestine and the resilience of the Palestinian people. Additionally, they will follow up on settlement developments, the apartheid wall, prisoners, refugees, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), in addition to development in the occupied territories and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.The Palestinian people have high hopes that the 33rd Arab Summit will adopt a unified position to resolve the Palestinian issue and intensify international efforts to secure the full membership of the State of Palestine in the United Nations, especially after the resolution adopted by the General Assembly last Friday, which affirmed support for Palestine's right to full membership and recommended the Security Council to reconsider the request of the State of Palestine. The General Assembly's resolution gained wide support from 143 countries, reflecting the international will to grant the Palestinian people this legitimate right.Palestinians also look forward to Arab leaders taking a decisive stance to confront the challenges and dangerous situations as a result of the continuous aggression on the Gaza Strip by sea, land, and air since Oct. 7, which has caused a complete humanitarian catastrophe, claiming more than 35,000 martyrs and over 79,000 injured so far. Thousands of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense teams are unable to reach them.The economic and social file of the Arab Summit includes an emergency response plan to deal with the negative economic and social repercussions of the Israeli aggression on the State of Palestine. This plan entails supporting the Palestinian people in various social, humanitarian, and economic fields within the framework of resolutions raised by the Arab Economic and Social Council, which issued a resolution at its 113th session held on Feb. 15 of last year regarding the preparation of this plan.The Arab Summit also addresses several issues concerning the situations in Arab countries, including solidarity with Lebanon, developments in Syria, peace and development support in Sudan, as well as developments in Libya and Yemen, support for Somalia, and the peaceful resolution of the Djibouti-Eritrea border conflict, in addition to issues of international peace and security related to the security of Arab states and water security.The Summit agenda also includes monitoring Arab interactions with climate change issues, the modified Arab strategy for human rights, the joint Arab strategy to combat terrorism, maintenance of Arab national security and counter-terrorism efforts, and the development of the Arab counter-terrorism system, in addition to the Arab media strategy.Furthermore, the Arab Summit will discuss opportunities to enhance Arab cooperation with international and regional groupings. In this context, it will review the report of the Presidency of the 32nd Arab Summit on the activities of the Follow-up Committee for the Implementation of Resolutions and Commitments, and the report of the Secretary-General of the Arab League on the progress of joint Arab work. It will also discuss an agenda item on international political affairs, including several topics such as the Second Arab-China Summit hosted by Beijing, the establishment of a forum for partnership between the Arab League and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the support for Egypt's candidate Dr. Khaled El-Enany, for the position of Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).