Arab, G7 ministers hope for ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon
Foreign ministers from the world's leading industrialized nations are meeting Monday, with the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East entering decisive phases and a certain pressure to advance diplomatic efforts ahead of the new U.S. administration taking over.
Hopes for brokering a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon are foremost on the agenda of the Group of Seven meeting outside Rome that is gathering ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
On the first day of the two-day gathering Monday, the G7 will be joined by ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as the Secretary General of the Arab League.
"With partners will be discussed ways to support efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, initiatives to support the population and the promotion of a credible political horizon for stability in the region," the Italian foreign ministry said.
The so-called "Quint" grouping of the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the UAE has been working to finalize a "day after" plan for Gaza, and there is some urgency to make progress before the Trump administration takes over in January. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to pursue a policy that strongly favors Israel over the aspirations of the Palestinians.
Host Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani added another item to the G7 agenda last week after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas' military chief.
Italy is a founding member of the court and hosted the 1998 Rome conference that gave birth to it. But Italy's right-wing government has been a strong supporter of Israel after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, while also providing humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.
The Italian government has taken a cautious line, reaffirming its support and respect for the court but expressing concern that the warrants were politically motivated.
"There can be no equivalence between the responsibilities of the state of Israel and the terrorist organization of Hamas," Premier Giorgia Meloni said, echoing the statement from U.S. President Joe Biden.
Nathalie Tocci, director of the Rome-based Institute for International Affairs think tank, said Italy would be seeking to forge a united front on the ICC warrants, at least among the six G7 countries that are signatories of the court: everyone but the U.S.
But in an essay this weekend in La Stampa newspaper, Tocci warned it was a risky move, since the U.S. tends to dictate the G7 line and has blasted the ICC warrants against Netanyahu as "outrageous."
"If Italy and the other (five G7) signatories of the ICC are unable to maintain the line on international law, they will not only erode it anyway but will be acting against our interests," Tocci wrote, recalling Italy's recourse to international law in demanding protection for Italian U.N. peacekeepers who have come under fire in southern Lebanon.
The other major talking point of the G7 meeting is Ukraine, and tensions have only heightened since Russia attacked Ukraine last week with an experimental, hypersonic ballistic missile that escalated the nearly 33-month-old war.
The G7 has been at the forefront of providing military and economic support for Ukraine since Russia's invasion in February 2022 and G7 members are particularly concerned about how a Trump administration will change the U.S. approach.
Trump has criticized the billions of dollars that the Biden administration has poured into Ukraine and has said he could end the war in 24 hours, comments that appear to suggest he would press Ukraine to surrender territory that Russia now occupies.
The G7 foreign ministers' meeting, the second of the Italian presidency after ministers gathered in Capri in April, is being held in the medieval town of Fiuggi southeast of Rome, best known for its thermal spas.
On Monday, which coincides with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, ministers will attend the inauguration of a red bench meant to symbolize Italy's focus on fighting gender-based violence.
Over the weekend, tens of thousands of people marched in Rome to protest gender-based violence, which in Italy so far this year has claimed the lives of 99 women, according to a report last week by the Eures think tank.
Several Arab foreign ministers, on the sidelines of the meeting, called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon and the provision of humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
The ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates, and the secretary general of the League of Arab States, all participated in the Rome conference before joining G7 foreign minsters later in the day in nearby Fiuggi.
"Gaza is now a graveyard for children, a graveyard for human values, a graveyard for international law," said Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.
“We all hope and pray that this ceasefire will be realized because the absence of it will mean more destruction, and more and more animosity, and more dehumanization, and more hatred, and more bitterness which will doom the future of the region to more conflict and more killing and more destruction,” Safadi said.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty reaffirmed that Cairo would host a ministerial-level conference next Monday on mobilizing international aid for Gaza. In remarks to the “Mediterranean Dialogues” conference, he called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, the release of hostages, provision of humanitarian aid for Palestinians and the initiation of “a serious and genuine political process” to create a Palestinian state.
Source: Associated Press
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