The Arab League (AL) Council is to hold an extraordinary session for Arab foreign ministers next Thursday, according to Hossam Zaki, Assistant Secretary General at the AL. At the meeting, which will take place online, the Israeli plans to annex the West Bank and the AL's response to the annexation will be discussed. The ministerial level meeting will be headed by Oman at the request of Palestine. In a statement on Sunday, Zaki said that the foreign ministers will also discuss the means of providing political, legal and financial support to the Palestinian leadership. The support would go towards the Palestinian efforts to address the repercussions of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. He added that the meeting was requested by Palestine with support from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Algeria, Yemen and Iraq. Zaki added that AL Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, has taken political action in support of Palestine, including sending messages to world leaders on the dangerous situation there. The message warned against the dangerous policies adopted by Israeli leaders, especially the Likud Party, to take advantage of the current global situation to expand settlements in the Palestinian territories. It also called on the UN to assume its responsibilities on this score. Aboul Gheit appealed to international leaders and officials to hold Israel accountable for its policies that have done nothing against the full repercussions of the coronavirus epidemic in Palestinian territories and refugee camps. UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, expressed his rejection of Israel's plans to further annex Palestinian occupied territories. "Such a decision would shut the door for negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and eliminate the chances for the two-state solution," warned Guterres, in a letter directed to the AL's Secretary-General.
