Ashraf AboArafe
In a solemn address delivered on 30 November 2025, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit used the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People to issue one of his strongest denunciations yet of Israeli actions in the occupied territories. Speaking from the League’s headquarters, Aboul Gheit described the current moment as “one of the harshest in the history of the Palestinian cause.”
He said the two-year war on Gaza amounted to “a genocidal campaign aimed at erasing an entire society,” adding that the conflict had stripped away all remaining pretenses about the nature of the occupation.
According to Aboul Gheit, the world has now seen “the absolute absence of ethical limits” in Israel’s actions, from mass destruction to starvation, and the deliberate targeting of children. “Their schools, families and years of learning and play have been stolen,” he said.
Yet, he argued, the past two years have also revealed the “unshakeable heroism” of the Palestinian people and the growing “isolation of Israel on the global stage,” even among countries once counted among its strongest allies.
Rising Recognition of Palestine
Aboul Gheit highlighted a geopolitical shift he described as historic: 157 countries now recognize the State of Palestine, including states that once had direct roles in shaping the Middle East’s current geopolitical landscape.
“The march of history is moving toward the Palestinian state,” he asserted, “not toward the perpetuation of occupation.”
He cited major developments over the past year, including:
- The New York Declaration adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2025, setting out a path toward Palestinian statehood.
- Former President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire and peace proposal, advanced with mediation from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.
- UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which endorsed the plan and authorized a temporary international force in Gaza.
These steps, he said, form a roadmap toward ending the conflict and enabling Palestinian self-determination.
A Turning Point After Two Years of Tragedy
The Secretary-General drew attention to deteriorating conditions not only in Gaza but also in the occupied West Bank, where settlement expansion and settler violence have reached unprecedented levels.
Over the past two years, more than 1,000 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and tens of thousands detained—“nearly nine thousand of them still held in Israeli prisons,” he noted.
Aboul Gheit said the region now stands at a “critical turning point,” with the Security Council resolution providing an opportunity to:
- Secure a complete Israeli withdrawal,
- Allow unhindered humanitarian access,
- Begin reconstruction, and
- Reinforce Palestinian steadfastness on their land.
He insisted that the unity of Palestinian territory must remain intact: “Gaza and the West Bank are together the land of the Palestinian state,” he said, reaffirming that the Palestine Liberation Organization remains the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
Unshakable Arab and International Support
Despite the enormity of the challenges, Aboul Gheit said the Palestinian national project remains “very much alive,” backed by what he described as firm Arab support and widening global solidarity.
“No matter how brutal the occupation becomes, it will end,” he concluded.
“The Palestinian state will rise—because its emergence is the only just and lasting path to peace in the region.”
His speech was met with wide regional attention, echoing a sentiment increasingly shared across diplomatic circles: that the world is approaching a decisive moment in resolving one of the longest and most painful conflicts of the modern era.
