The League said that "the failure to reach a just solution to the Palestinian cause and the hostile practices of the occupying power" remain major obstacles to "peaceful coexistence" in the region.

The Arab League is meeting in Baghdad on Saturday to discuss Gaza and other regional crises, but some key leaders are expected to miss the talks that come straight after US President Donald Trump's Gulf tour.

A draft version of the Egyptian plan seen by AFP lays out a five-year roadmap with a price tag of $53 billion -- about the same amount the United Nations estimated Gaza's reconstruction would cost.

As the world grapples with uncertainty, the summit offers a much-needed space for cooperation and innovation, led by the Franco-Arab Chamber of Commerce (CCFA).

Indicating improving ties between the two major powerhouses in the Middle East, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged international community to ensure respect the sovereignty of the "sisterly Islamic Republic of Iran".

Arab and Muslim leaders are gathering in Saudi capital city Riyadh to discuss Israeli war against Gaza and Lebanon in a bid to send a message to President-elect Donald Trump.

In a concluding statement following a meeting in Manama, the 22-member grouping called for "international protection and peacekeeping forces of the United Nations in the occupied Palestinian territories" until a two-state solution is implemented.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said "additional forces will enter" the Rafah area and "this activity will intensify". "Hundreds of targets have already been struck and our forces are maneuvering in the area," Gallant said following a troop visit on Wednesday.

King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was addressing fellow heads of state and government at the 22-strong grouping in Manama, more than seven months into a conflict that has convulsed the region.

Abu Dhabi, UAE--The Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) expects the bank's annual financing to reach US$2.5 billion by the end of 2024. According to its director general, Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, the annual financing of the bank is witnessing a steady increase, rising from US$2 billion in...

Moscow, Russia -- Moscow is maintaining close contact with officials from the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Russia’s upcoming presidential election, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Tuesday. Bogdanov, who serves as Russian special presidential envoy for the Middle East and Africa, told TASS,...

Speaking before an Arab League meeting in Cairo, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, on his second trip to Egypt and his first during his current term, condemned Israel's war in the Gaza Strip, saying that there must be and end to "this inhumanity and cowardice" in the besieged enclave...

Cairo, Egypt -- The potential termination of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) due to a lack of funds poses a danger for the entire region, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said. "The cessation of the work of this UN...

Arab and Muslim leaders condemned Israeli forces' "barbaric" actions in Gaza but declined to approve punitive economic and political steps against the country over its war against Hamas. The joint summit in the Saudi capital of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation highlighted regional divisions over how...

Israel launched massive bombardment on Gaza after Hamas broke through Gaza's heavily fortified border on October 7, killing more than 1,400 Israelis. At least 2,750 Palestinians have been killed in relentless Israeli bombardment coupled with a complete siege of the tiny enclave.

Demanding that aid be immediately allowed to go into the besieged enclave, Arab foreign minister condemned Israel's siege of Gaza in the wake of the shock attack by Palestinian militants on Israel. It has imposed a "complete siege" on the Gaza Strip, cutting off the water supply, food, electricity and...

The conference will focus on practical aspects, unifying action, and establishing partnerships, as well as aligning efforts to transition from planning to implementation, to deliver tangible results and deal with climate challenges. The COP28 Presidency seeks to deliver a “human-centric COP”, she adds.

Damascus, Syria - Syria's reentry into the Arab League in May was anticipated to herald positive changes for the country's fortunes. Diplomatic relations warmed, with a normalization agreement signed with Saudi Arabia and a tense, Russia-brokered meeting between Turkish and Syrian foreign ministers. However, despite these diplomatic strides, Syria's economic...

The forum was agreed during talks between Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus earlier this month as regional concern mounts over an influx of the banned stimulant captagon from Syria. Jordanian security forces have tightened border controls in recent years and occasionally announce thwarted...

The US-Arab Strategic Dialogue discussed Middle East peace and the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, among other issues. The dialogue concluded successfully and the US and Arab League issued a joint statement on several issues. They statement said that they will counter terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms.

Cairo, Egypt--The Arab League has called for efforts to confront drought and desertification in light of number of Arab countries lacking water resources, which resulted in land degradation and lack of agricultural land. This came on the occasion of the 29th World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, themed "Her...

Last year's donors' conference in Brussels for displaced Syrians raised pledges of $6.7 billion, and the one before that $6.4 billion. The EU overall contributed more than 70 percent of those totals.

China's approach, characterized by a combination of economic incentives and a focus on development, contrasts with the more assertive and unilateral approach often associated with the United States. For Arab nations, China's appeal also lies in its geo-economic-centric relationship, he adds.

Syria's opposition urged the resumption of moribund United Nations-sponsored talks with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, who has returned to the Arab fold after years of isolation. "The international, regional and Syrian conditions provide an appropriate circumstance for the resumption of direct negotiations...," the Syrian Negotiation Commission said in...

Colonna nevertheless said Paris would not be changing its policy towards the Syrian ruler. "We have to remember who Bashar al-Assad is. He's a leader who has been the enemy of his own people for more than 10 years," she said. A lifting of European Union sanctions on the Syrian...

Beirut, Lebanon -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has returned to the Arab fold after more than a decade of isolation, eyeing reconstruction and aid from formers foes as the conflict grinds on. Since the brutal civil war broke out in 2011, it has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and...

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad returns to Arab League Summit, which confronts conflicts across the Middle East and beyond, including the war in Ukraine.

Zelensky's surprise trip to the summit in the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah was his first to the Middle East since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. An Arab League official told AFP the invitation came from Saudi Arabia, not the bloc itself.

The summit in Saudi Arabia comes at a time when the world's biggest oil exporter is flexing its diplomatic muscle across the Middle East and beyond. It follows a frenetic stretch of high-stakes diplomacy triggered by the kingdom's surprise Chinese-brokered rapprochement deal with Iran announced in March.

"I... take this opportunity to welcome the Syrian Arab Republic to the League of Arab States," Saudi finance minister Mohammed al-Jadaan told the meeting, which was broadcast live by state TV channel Al Ekhbariya. Jadaan added that he was "looking forward to working with everyone to achieve what we aspire...

The pan-Arab body had suspended Damascus in November 2011 over its crackdown on protests, which began earlier that year and spiraled into a war that has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and battered the country's infrastructure and industry.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was politically isolated in the region since the conflict began, but a flurry of diplomatic activity has been underway in past weeks as a decision by Saudi Arabia and Iran, a close ally of Damascus, to resume ties shifted regional relations. Assad hopes normalisation with Gulf...

"We continue to believe that we will not normalize our relations with the Assad regime and we don't support our allies and partners doing so either," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said. The US opposes reconciliation with Syria and domestic law forbids any assistance for reconstruction without accountability for abuses...

The bloc's foreign ministers unanimously agree to allow government delegations from Syria to resume their participation in meetings ahead of a key summit in Jeddah on May 19.

Arab countries gathered in Jeddah on Friday to discuss ending Syria's long spell in the diplomatic wilderness as regional relations shift following Saudi Arabia and Iran's decision to resume ties.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad in Cairo, a first since Syria's civil war broke out over a decade ago, Shoukry's office said. The meeting comes amid amplified Arab engagement with the Damascus government which has been politically isolated in the region since the...

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been politically isolated in the region since the start of Syria's war in 2011, triggered by the government's suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations, and was expelled from the Cairo-based Arab League. But since the quake, Arab leaders have made overtures to his government. "We welcome the...

As relations thaw after more than a decade of isolation, Saudi Arabia has suggested that closer cooperation with Syria may open the road for its admission back into the Arab League, albeit it is still too early to debate this option. On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al...

Cairo, Egypt - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Sunday accused Israel of having "crossed all red lines" in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem and urged world leaders to put an end to its actions. The international community must "protect" the Palestinian people and "put a stop to Israeli aggression......

Amman, Jordan-- Jordan and the Arab League have discussed ways to deepen coordination on communications. Minister of Government Communication Faisal Shboul and Head of the Media and the Communication Sector of the Arab League, Ahmed Khattabi, Saturday held talks in Amman on enhancing coordination on communications. During the meeting, Shboul...

From Arab League to Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), most of the Arab world has expressed support for UN's vote asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for an opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories.

ASWAN, EGYPT - The governments of the UAE and Egypt inaugurated the Egypt Services Center in the Aswan Governorate, which is the first of its kind in Egypt. The inauguration is part of the strategic partnership between the two countries in government modernization. The Emirati delegation which attended the inauguration...

Abbas was addressing the first Arab League summit since the UAE normalized ties with the Jewish state in 2020, sparking a string of similar moves that have divided the region. Without referring to the Israeli election, he said Israel was "systematically destroying the two-state solution and throwing away agreements it...

Welcoming the report brought out by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, the Arab League has praised the efforts and the findings of the report, documenting Israeli violations against Palestinians, and holy sites in the occupied Palestinian territories.

As long as the Palestinian saga is open, Saudi Arabia will not have full normalization of ties with Israel. However, it will have effective cooperation in many areas, say experts.

Russia's state atomic energy corporation Rosatom has launched the construction of Egypt's first nuclear power plant, a $25-billion project billed as the largest venture between the two countries in decades. Egyptian Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker and Rosatom chief Alexey Likhachev on Wednesday poured concrete into what will serve as the...

The war in Ukraine has caused food insecurity in Arab nations, many of which are heavily dependent on wheat imports from the former Soviet state. His address comes days after Russia took part in a summit hosted by Iran and attended by Turkey.

Foreign ministers of Arab nations discussed in Beirut a range of regional crises, with emphasis on food security and the impact of Ukraine war on their countries.

The Arab League on Monday expressed its worry over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and called for a "diplomatic solution," as the regional bloc's members grapple with conflicting loyalties.

A number of Arab countries are heavily dependent on wheat supplies from both Ukraine and Russia.