Arab FMs meet saturday to discuss means of ending Israeli aggression on Gaza

A ministerial level meeting for the Arab League is set to start at the Cairo-based Arab League General Secretariat headquareters on Saturday to discuss the Arab stance towards the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip that began earlier Wednesday and claimed the lives of 22 people in Gaza, including Hamas military commander, and injured scores of others. The Arab League meeting also comes in the light of reports that Israel intends to expand its operation on Gaza, dubbed ”Operation Pillar of Defense”, having rallied its troops around the Strip and summoned a large chunk of its military reservits. The foreign ministers’ meeting comes as Arab efforts attempt to stop the Israeli military campaign that has been severely condemned by Arab countries. This position was expressed by all Arab countries, notably Qatar as HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani stressed that the aggression against Gaza will not go unpunished, and that the State of Qatar strongly condemns it and calls on the U.N. Security Council to assume its responsibilities in dealing with the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip. Mohamed Sobeih, Assistant Arab League Secretary General for Palestine and the Occupied Territories, on his part said that the Israeli government is led by extremists who are taking the region to an unknown fate, strongly condemning the Israeli crimes against the people of Gaza Strip and the attack that killed Hamas military commander Ahmed Jaabari. Speaking to QNA, Sobeih said that the timing of Israel’s attack suggests that it’s done for electoral reasons at the expense of Palestinian blood. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for early elections that is scheduled to take place early next year. Sobeih stressed that the aggression must stop immediately and the international community to fulfill his duties and intervene to put an end to it. The Palestinian official said he hopes the meeting will result in a more powerful Arab position that is commensurate with the Palestinian tragedy in Gaza, noting that Secretary General dr.Nabil el-Arabi is communicating with different parties to prepare for the meeting.