Arab summit calls to unify Palestinians under PLO

CAIRO — Arab leaders called Tuesday to unify Palestinian ranks under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, a move that could sideline Islamist militant group Hamas which is not a member.

A final statement of the Arab League summit in Cairo, seen by AFP, welcomed "the Palestinian decision to form a Gaza administration committee under the umbrella of the Palestinian government, made up of competent individuals from the [Gaza] Strip for a transitional period in parallel with working to enable the national [Palestinian] Authority to return to" the war-battered territory, ruled by Hamas since 2007.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi said Tuesday that Arab leaders endorsed his country's plan for the reconstruction and development of war-torn Gaza.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Tuesday that the Palestinian Authority would reassume control over the Gaza Strip under a post-war plan announced by Arab leaders.

Abbas said in his opening remarks at an Arab League summit in Cairo that his administration could assume "its duties in the Gaza Strip through its governmental institutions, and a working committee has been formed for this purpose".

Syria's interim President Ahmed Al Sharaa was in Cairo Tuesday for the Arab League summit on Gaza, his first such meeting since ousting longtime ruler Bashar Al Assad nearly three months ago.

Sharaa arrived "to attend the extraordinary Arab summit in Cairo on developments on the Palestinian issue", state news agency SANA reported.

The Syrian presidency published images of Sharaa meeting with senior officials including United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Abbas and European Union chief Antonio Costa on the sidelines of the summit.