Ashraf AboArafe
At the meeting of the Council of the League of Arab States at the level of permanent delegates in its extraordinary session held its emergency summit to discuss, provide urgent assistance to the Lebanese Republic and to confront the continuing Israeli aggression.
Mr. Ambassador Hossam Zaki, Assistant Secretary-General of the League of Arab States gave a speech as follows:
Mr. President
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Your esteemed Council meets today in circumstances that we all appreciate as extremely dangerous for the entire region.
The Arab League generally and its member states individually have warned for months about the dangers of a regional war, from which no party will be immune to its consequences, but today we are very close to the outbreak of this war due to the arrogance and recklessness of the leaders of the Israeli occupation who insist on igniting fires in the region… and are not satisfied with the crimes they practiced and are practicing in Gaza, but rather want to replicate the same brutal scenario in Lebanon, fortified by the global inability to deter their criminal behavior and their audacity against all legal, humanitarian and moral rules.
We say clearly that the attacks on Lebanon and its people… and the displays of brutality intoxicated by the arrogance of power… will not achieve security for any party… but rather they sow the seeds of extended conflicts and increasing hatred.
There was a diplomatic path that could achieve the goals of all parties and bring calm to the Lebanese-Israeli front in accordance with Resolution 1701.. But the occupation chose the path of blood and killing, instead of rational solutions that begin with an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and defusing the escalation in Lebanon and the region.
We stand in solidarity with Lebanon and its government.. and with its people with all its components, without discrimination.. in these difficult circumstances.. and we stand as one in the face of targeting the Lebanese state and its capabilities, and planting the seeds of instability in it.
The scenarios of the occupation are exposed, and its purposes are known.. and we must all be aware of them.. and help the people of Lebanon to thwart them… Civil peace is a top priority that everyone must adhere to, no matter the circumstances.. Lebanese society will not overcome this crisis except with the strength of its fabric, the solidarity of its components, and the completion of its institutions.
The people of Lebanon have suffered from successive crises for years.. and today they face a new and dangerous challenge.. there are more than a million displaced persons.. and in the face of aggression and its horrific humanitarian consequences, every hand in the world must reach out to rescue Lebanon and its people.. and help this proud people to stand firm so that they emerge from this ordeal stronger than before, God willing.
Thank you, Mr. President.
