Ministers participating in the "Union for the Mediterranean Summit" in Barcelona stressed the need to stop the war on Gaza (French)

International and Arab-Islamic calls for the extension of the temporary humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which entered its fourth and final day on Monday, were renewed.

Speaking at the UfM summit in Barcelona, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said an extension of the truce was within reach and would allow the international community to work on a political solution to the conflict.

Borrell added that the PA needed to regain control of the Gaza Strip from Hamas and offer a "better and more viable" alternative.

He considered that peace between Israel and Palestine has become a "strategic necessity" for the entire Euro-Mediterranean community and beyond, adding: "If there is a power vacuum in Gaza, there will be demographic changes, of which Europe is the first casualty."

Arab-Islamic calls

At the same forum, an Arab-Islamic ministerial committee discussed ways to stop the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and extend the truce there.

This came according to statements by the Saudi and Egyptian foreign ministries, members of the committee formed by a decision of the Arab Islamic Summit in Riyadh on November 11.

The committee included Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, his Saudi counterparts Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Egyptian Sameh Shoukry, Jordanian Ayman Safadi, Palestinian Riyad al-Maliki, as well as Arab League Secretary Ahmed Aboul Gheit, according to the sources.

The members of the ministerial committee stressed "the importance of the international community taking all effective measures to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for the continuous violations."

The Ministers affirmed "the complete rejection of Israeli policies aimed at the forced displacement of the Palestinian people, whether inside or outside Gaza, to liquidate the Palestinian cause by imposing a new reality that makes it impossible to live in the Strip, as well as their total rejection of any attempts to separate the Gaza Strip from the West Bank."

A comprehensive cessation of war

In his speech at the forum, the Saudi foreign minister said, in a speech at the forum, that "a temporary ceasefire in Gaza will not achieve value unless it is followed by a comprehensive and permanent cessation of military operations."

For his part, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said in Spanish, "There is no other solution but to stop the war and reach a ceasefire and work to extend it to become permanent," stressing that "we must stop counting the bodies."

"We have an opportunity today" and "we are all working to extend this truce for a day, two or three. We don't know, but the most important thing is to extend it in order to save innocent lives."

Israel is absent from this annual meeting of foreign ministers of the Union for the Mediterranean, a forum of European and Mediterranean countries focused on the war in Gaza.

NATO's position

In Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called for an extension of the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip.

Stoltenberg's statement came on the eve of the start of the meeting of foreign ministers of NATO countries at its headquarters in the Belgian capital Brussels on November 28 and 29.

"I call for an extension of the truce, and this will ensure that much-needed aid reaches the people of Gaza and that more hostages are released," he said. He stressed that there is a need for a lasting political solution to the region's crisis.

The truce, which entered into force last Friday in the Gaza Strip, expires on Tuesday at 05 am (00 GMT), and the truce agreement provides for the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza from Egypt, as well as the release of 50 detainees held by Hamas in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. The Qatari Foreign Ministry announced this evening that an agreement had been reached to extend the truce for two more days.

One of the terms of the agreement also stipulates that it could be extended for the release of about 10 detainees held daily by Hamas, in exchange for the release of about 30 Palestinian prisoners.

Source: Agencies