* The Arab League Council at the ministerial level, at its extraordinary meeting (in Cairo) on 15 July 2006:

— As it followed very anxiously and fully condemned the escalating Israeli aggression against the Lebanese Republic and the occupied Palestinian territories;

— And after studying the dangerous developments connected with the Israeli aggression against civilians and the infrastructure in both the Palestinian territories and Lebanon;

— And while it affirms its complete solidarity with the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples in the face of the Israeli aggression and war machine;

— And as it takes into consideration the developments in the exacerbating situation in the Middle East as a result of the obstruction of the settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict in accordance with UNSC resolutions and the principle of land-for-peace, and the rise in the state of despair, frustration, and feelings of injustice and anger and the results of that;

— And as it affirms the right of nations to resist occupation and aggression;

— And after hearing the secretary general’s report to the council, resolves:

1. To condemn continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories that harm civilians and damage the infrastructure, and affirms complete solidarity with them in the face of what they are being subjected to, and to warn of the danger of the entire region sliding toward a confrontation in view of the current escalation by Israel in both Lebanon and the Palestinian territories;

2. To call on the international community, and the UNSC in particular, to shoulder its responsibility and to move immediately to call on Israel to completely desist from its military hostilities, and to urge all sides to respect the principles and norms of humanitarian international law and to implement the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in war time, stop the escalation and violence, and search for a settlement through dialogue and negotiations;

3. To affirm the Arab stand as stated in the Arab peace initiative adopted by the 14th Arab summit (Beirut 2002);

4. To emphasize that the continuation of the present situation poses a great threat to regional and international peace and security, a matter that calls for the need to find a comprehensive and lasting solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, and (the activation) of the terms of reference of the peace process and relevant UN resolutions, in view of the fact that the occupation is the main reason for all the tension and violence we see in the region; and notes the decision of the UN secretary general to send a team to the Middle East to probe ways of finding an immediate solution to the present crisis by peaceful means;

5. To call on the sides to begin immediate negotiations on the exchange of prisoners;

6. To call on all the sides not to engage in actions that are likely to lead to undermining the security and stability of the region, for it is the states of the region and their peoples that have to bear the consequences of such actions that do not serve their interests; and to emphasize the unity of Arab action in this regard and to activate complete and joint coordination and consultation within the framework of the Arab League on everything connected with developments in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and in a manner that is compatible with the resolutions of Arab summits;

7. To call on the UNSC to meet at a high level to consider the Arab-Israeli conflict in a radical and comprehensive manner, in view of the failure of all the efforts to resume the peace process and the abortion of the progress of a peaceful settlement, and to ask the (Arab League) council presidency, the Arab Peace Initiative Committee, and the Arab League secretary general to coordinate and hold the necessary contacts in that regard;

8. To keep the council in session to follow up developments in the situation;

9. To ask the secretary general to hold the necessary contacts to follow up implementation of this resolution.

* The Arab League Council at the ministerial council, at its extraordinary meeting on 15 July 2006:

After taking cognizance of the memorandum of the Arab League secretariat, and after listening to the review presented by the head of the delegation of the Lebanese Republic, and in view of the continued open Israeli aggression against Lebanon and its people, resolves:

1. To condemn the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, an aggression that conflicts with all international resolutions, laws, and norms, and to pay tribute to the souls of the martyrs and the steadfastness of the Lebanese and their anxiousness to maintain their solidarity and unity that are a basic factor in confronting the occupation;

2. To demonstrate absolute solidarity with Lebanon and to support its steadfastness in the face of the treacherous attack against civilians and which is claiming innocent lives and inflicting heavy material and economic losses;

3. To affirm full support for the Lebanese complaint to the UNSC and to ask the UNSC to adopt an immediate resolution on instituting a comprehensive cease-fire and lifting the Israeli blockade of Lebanon;

4. To support Lebanon’s assertion that it will respect the resolutions of international legality and that it will respect the Blue Line (in southern Lebanon).

5. To affirm complete support for the Lebanese Government in its determination to exercise its responsibilities in protecting Lebanon and the Lebanese and safeguarding their security and safety, and to affirm the Lebanese Government’s right and duty to exercise its authority on all of its territory and to exercise its sovereignty at home and abroad;

6. To consider that the continuation of the acts of destruction and killing carried out by Israel against the Lebanese people makes the existing problem more difficult and complicated and leads to undermining stability, peace, and security in the region;

7. To hold Israel responsible for making reparations for the losses and destruction that resulted from its aggression against Lebanese territory.

* The Arab League Council at the ministerial council, at its extraordinary meeting on 15 July 2006:

— After taking cognizance of the secretariat’s memorandum,

— As it follows with concern and interest the escalation of the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian territories and the targeting of civilians, the destruction of the infrastructure, and the perpetration of massacres that have claimed the lives of entire families in the Gaza Strip,

— And as it expresses its full condemnation of such attacks that constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity,

— And as it expresses its great regret at the United States’ exercise of the right of veto to protect Israeli aggression and foiling the UNSC in carrying out its responsibilities with regard to the maintenance of security and peace in the Palestinian territories,

— And as it points to Israel’s persistence in violating the agreements, understandings, and pledges to which it committed itself with the PLO and other Arab sides, including the Sharm al-Shaykh understandings (of 8 August 2005) on measures to calm down the situation and to free prisoners and detainees, resolves:

1. To condemn the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian territories, the targeting of civilians, the destruction of the infrastructure, and all the blockade and closure measures which — according to the rules of humanitarian international law — constitute collective punishment and war crimes, and to call for the immediate end to such measures;

2. To seek through international mechanisms to stop the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian territories immediately, and to bring about the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the areas it occupied recently;

3. To call for the release of all the Palestinian ministers, Palestinian Legislative Council members, and officials who have been detained, and to bring about an exchange of prisoners and detainees within the framework of the United Nations or through third parties;

4. To determine (call for determination) not to molest all civilians and to provide them with protection in accordance with the rules of humanitarian international law and the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, and to establish (call for establishing) a force of international observers to protect the Palestinian people;

5. To lift (call for lifting) the financial, economic, and physical siege and to assess the heavy losses inflicted on Palestinian installations and infrastructure, and to hold Israel — the occupying power — responsible for compensating the Palestinian people for all those losses;

6. To affirm the vital importance of safeguarding the unity of Palestinian ranks and to welcome the Palestinian agreement that was reached within the framework of national dialogue, and to call for supporting and strengthening that agreement and for implementing its resolutions so as to achieve national unity;

7. To ask the secretary general to hold the necessary consultations and contacts in order to implement this resolution, and to keep the council session open.