CAIRO: Arab leaders at a Cairo summit condemned Israeli bombardment of Gaza as Europeans said civilians should be shielded, but the absence of Israel and senior US officials at the meeting undermined any prospect for halting an escalating war.
Leaders and foreign ministers were meeting as a two-week conflict in neighbouring Gaza raged on, amid growing concern in many countries at an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in the blockaded enclave that is home to 2.3 million people.
Arab states said it was time to restart efforts to end a decades-long cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, which flared once again on October 7 assault.
The United States, Israel's closest ally and a vital player in all past peace efforts in the region, only sent the charge d'affaires of its Cairo embassy and Israel was entirely absent. Diplomats said a joint summit declaration was unlikely.
Jordan's King Abdullah denounced what he termed global silence about Israel's attacks, which have killed thousands in Gaza and made over a million homeless, and urged an even-handed approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"The message the Arab world is hearing is that Palestinian lives matter less than Israeli ones," he said, adding he was outraged and grieved by acts of violence waged against innocent civilians in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel.
Israel has said it told Palestinians to move south within Gaza for their own safety, although the coastal strip is only 45 km long and Israeli air strikes have also hit the south.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told the summit a humanitarian corridor was needed to deliver aid to civilians, which she said could lead to a ceasefire.
Germany said Israel's fight must be carried out with due concern for the humanitarian situation in Gaza and Britain urged the Israeli military to respect international law and show restraint.
The absence of some Western leaders has cooled expectations. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron did not attend.
The summit comes as Israel prepares for a ground assault on Gaza with more than 4,100 Palestinians killed so far.
Arab states fear the offensive could drive Gaza residents permanently from their homes and even into neighbouring states - as happened when Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes in the 1948 war following Israel's creation. — Reuters
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