Arab States Accuse Israel of Escalating Gaza Conflict

At the initiative of Qatar and Turkey, Arab countries issued a joint statement today (Thursday) condemning Israel over its continued military operations in Gaza. In addition to Turkey and Qatar, the foreign ministries of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt also signed the statement.

The joint statement said: "We strongly condemn the ongoing Israeli violations in the Gaza Strip, especially the targeting of medical facilities and buildings, civilian infrastructure, and the continued civilian casualties. This undermines international and regional efforts to implement the second phase of the plan, and threatens to destroy the political track and return to a cycle of escalation."

Meanwhile, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported that the United States told the Lebanese government that it does not intend to pressure Israel to continue IDF withdrawals from Lebanese territory.

Al Jazeera and Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported, citing senior U.S. State Department officials, that the negotiations in Rome "ended early due to unforeseen circumstances." According to them, the talks will resume tomorrow morning. Lebanese sources told Al-Araby that "Israel refuses to expand the pilot areas before it secures disarmament. Lebanon proposed an eight-week extension of the ceasefire during the talks." Lebanon demanded during last night’s talks in Rome that Israel provide a list of Lebanese citizens being held in Israeli prison.