Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee meets Spanish FM

Foreign ministers from Arab and Muslim countries, led by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, on Monday met in Barcelona with their Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albarez on efforts to end Israel's war on Gaza. Taking part in the meeting were Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Ayman Safadi, and the ministers of Egypt, Sameh Shukri, Palestine, Riyad al-Malki, Turkey, Hakan Fidan, and Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, all members of a ministerial committee tasked by a recent Arab-Islamic summit with following up on the situation in Gaza. The meeting tackled the humanitarian truce which led to the release of Israeli and Palestinian prisoners, in addition to efforts made to reach a sustainable ceasefire in order to end the violence and open safe corridors to deliver urgent relief aid to civilians. The meeting also dealt with efforts to launch effective international action to stop the war and address the humanitarian catastro phe in Gaza, as well as a commitment to protect civilians and ensure the application of international law and international humanitarian law. The committee members urged the international community to take all measures to ensure implementation of international resolutions on the Palestinian issue, and hold Israel, the occupying power, accountable for the ongoing violations of international law. They reiterated the need to return to the path of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace through implementation of international resolutions on the two-state solution and restoration of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and the right to set up an independent and sovereign state on the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The committee also called on the world community to shoulder its responsibility through rejecting selectivity in applying international legal and moral standards, and protecting the Palestinian people from crimes carried out by the occupation forces and settler m ilitias against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Source: Jordan News Agency