The Arab League said Monday it will convene an urgent virtual meeting this week to discuss how to galvanize opposition to Israeli plans to apply sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria, in keeping with the Trump administration’s recently released Middle East peace plan.
The extraordinary meeting -- scheduled for Thursday at the request of the Palestinian Authority -- will bring together Arab foreign ministers via video conference, rather than a face-to-face meeting, due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
The Arab League's deputy secretary Hossam Zaki said the ministers will "discuss in their virtual meeting providing political, legal and financial support to the Palestinian leadership to confront the Israeli plans".
It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his political rival Benny Gantz signed a deal for a unity government that could accelerate the premier's plans to apply Israeli sovereignty parts of Judea and Samaria this summer.
Those Israeli plans -- while subject to caveats, including the need to maintain "regional stability" and uphold the peace agreement with Jordan -- have drawn wide criticism including from the United Nations and the European Union, despite support from the US under the Trump administration’s Mideast peace plan.
Arab League chief Ahmed Ahmed Aboul Gheit had last week sent a message to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warning against Israel's plans saying they risk "igniting tension in the region".
He also accused Israel of "exploiting the world's preoccupation with the novel coronavirus to impose a new reality on the ground".
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said a decision regarding the application of Israeli sovereignty over parts of Judea and Samaria was up to Israel's new unity government.
