Arab League chief says Israeli officials barred his planned visit to occupied Palestinian territories

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy said Wednesday that Israeli authorities had prevented his planned visit to the occupied Palestinian territories, Anadolu reports.

“The Palestinian authorities have informed the General Secretariat of the Israeli refusal to permit a visit that Mr. Nabil Fahmy intended to make to the occupied Palestinian territories on Wednesday,” his spokesperson said on the US social media company X.

He said the visit was aimed at supporting the resilience of the Palestinian people and meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Fahmy “chose the visit to the occupied territories to be his first foreign destination due to the centrality of the Palestinian cause and to emphasize that it will remain at the top of the Arab world’s priorities,” he added.

The spokesperson called for holding Israel accountable for its ongoing violations against the Palestinians, stressing that defending the two-state solution requires continuous action from all countries supporting a just peace.

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“It is essential to expose the practices of the Israeli occupation and to bolster the resilience of the Palestinian people,” he added.

Fahmy officially assumed his duties as the new Arab League chief on June 1, succeeding Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

He is the ninth secretary-general of the Arab League since its establishment in 1945 and the eighth Egyptian to hold the post.

Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 173,000 injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The offensive has also caused widespread destruction, affecting about 90% of the enclave’s civilian infrastructure.

Since then, the West Bank has also witnessed an escalation carried out by the Israeli army and occupiers, killing 1,175 Palestinians, injuring 12,919 others and leading to the arrest of around 24,000 people.

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