Cooperation between the UN and the League of Arab States: High-level Informal Interactive Dialogue
Tomorrow morning (26 September), Security Council members will hold an informal interactive dialogue (IID) on cooperation between the UN and the League of Arab States (LAS). Tanja Fajon, Slovenia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, will chair the meeting. Briefings are expected from Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific Mohamed Khaled Khiari and LAS Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit. The members of the Arab Summit Troika—Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Iraq—are expected to participate at ministerial level. (The Arab Summit Troika is a group of three rotating countries that monitors the implementation of resolutions and commitments adopted by the LAS, which consists of the outgoing, current, and incoming Arab Summit chairs.)
Background
The Security Council has increasingly focused on strengthening partnerships and cooperation with regional and sub-regional organisations, as envisioned in Chapter VIII of the UN Charter. Since 2007, the Council has held annual consultative meetings with the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) and, since 2010, has received regular briefings from the European Union (EU). Additionally, the Council has convened debates and briefings on cooperation with other organisations, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
In keeping with the Council’s increasing focus on cooperation with regional and sub-regional organisations, as well as the growing number of conflicts in the Arab world, LAS representatives have addressed the Council on several occasions. In recent years, Arab Council members have also sought to draw more attention to this issue by featuring meetings on UN-LAS cooperation as a signature event during their presidencies, including Kuwait in June 2019, Tunisia in January 2021, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in March 2022 and June 2023. In the first three of these meetings, the Council adopted presidential statements focusing on the relationship between these two organisations. Presidential statements adopted after the meetings in 2021 (S/PRST/2021/2) and 2022 (S/PRST/2022/1) encouraged Council members to hold an informal meeting with the LAS Secretary-General and Arab Summit Troika representatives on the margins of the General Assembly’s high-level segment. Tomorrow’s meeting will be the third of its kind on UN-LAS cooperation.
Tomorrow’s IID
The situation in the Middle East has changed dramatically since the latest IID on UN-LAS cooperation, held on 21 September 2023. A few weeks after this meeting, the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks sparked a war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, which continues to have devastating effects to this day. Following the outbreak of this war, there has been an escalation of fire exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah and other armed groups in Lebanon. In recent days, the situation has escalated further after Israel conducted some of the heaviest airstrikes on Hezbollah since the 2006 Lebanon war. (For background and more information, see the brief on Lebanon in our August 2024 Monthly Forecast and our 19 September What’s in Blue story.)
Slovenia has circulated a concept note in preparation for tomorrow’s meeting, indicating that the dialogue will focus mainly on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). It poses several questions to help guide the discussion, including:
- What role should the UN and its Secretary-General play in the holding of a Peace Conference? On what issues should such a conference focus?
- How can the Security Council and the LAS best support the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in overcoming its current challenges, including financial shortfalls and politically motivated attacks?
- How can the Security Council and the LAS cooperate to prevent the spillover of the Gaza war into other regional contexts, such as Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen?
Gheit is expected to brief Council members on some of the main outcomes from recent high-level meetings of the LAS. During the 33rd Arab Summit held in Bahrain in May, the bloc issued the Bahrain Declaration, which called for the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces in the OPT until the two-state solution is implemented. It also called for recognition of the Palestinian state and an international peace conference to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. During the 162nd ministerial-level regular session of the Arab League Council (the LAS’ principal institution), held on 10 September in Cairo, the bloc reiterated its support for the Palestinian cause. Among other issues, some ministers called for the international community to enforce the 19 July Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which reaffirmed, among other things, that “Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the régime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law”. They also condemned Israel for its violations in Gaza and the West Bank, expressed support for Palestinian UN membership, and urged Arab states to continue financial support for Palestinians.
At tomorrow’s meeting, Council members are expected to underscore the contribution of regional organisations to international peace and security. Some may emphasise the growing importance of the UN-LAS partnership considering the continuing challenges facing the Arab region.
In line with the concept note, Council members are likely to focus on the situation in the OPT, with a particular emphasis on Gaza. In this regard, they are expected to stress the need to address the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza. According to the latest estimates by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), approximately 1.9 million people—90 percent of Gaza’s population—are internally displaced. Some Council members may note that humanitarian access remains obstructed, and that aid is still not reaching civilians in Gaza at scale.
Members are also likely to reiterate their long-standing calls for a ceasefire, for the release of all hostages, and for safe and unhindered humanitarian access. Some members may also stress the importance of planning for the reconstruction of Gaza.
Several Council members are expected to call for the implementation of Security Council resolutions on the conflict in Gaza. The Council has adopted four resolutions on the conflict, including resolution 2735 of 10 June, which was authored by the US and welcomes the three-phase ceasefire proposal announced by US President Joe Biden on 31 May in the context of the war between Israel and Hamas. Some Council members may express their concern due to the lack of implementation of this and other resolutions.
Members are also likely to address the regional spillover from the war in Gaza, particularly the recent escalation of violence between Israel and Hezbollah. In this regard, they are expected to call for de-escalation of hostilities and urge restraint by the parties. Council members and the briefers are likely to call on the relevant parties to recommit to, and fully implement, resolution 1701, which in 2006 called for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
In addition to tomorrow’s IID, the Council is scheduled to hold two additional meetings on issues in the region this week. This evening (25 September), the Council will meet to discuss the situation in Lebanon under the agenda item “The situation in the Middle East”. On Friday (27 September), the Council is expected to discuss the situation in the OPT under the “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question” agenda item.
