CAIRO: The Arab League stepped up its criticism of Israel ahead of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York, condemning Israeli actions in Gaza and the West Bank while calling for stronger international pressure over the Palestinian issue. The league issued a series of statements and raised issues during a ministerial meeting this week as Arab delegations prepared for the General Assembly. The Arab League’s Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy on Sunday strongly condemned statements by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Defense Minister Israel Katz calling for the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Fahmy said such remarks undermined international efforts to advance peace, end the war in Gaza and alleviate the suffering of Palestinians. He also accused Israel of continuing unilateral and escalatory policies that were worsening conditions in the territory. Speaking at an Arab League ministerial meeting on Monday, Fahmy said the organization was documenting what it described as Israeli violations of international law and international legitimacy resolutions. The league would begin by establishing a unified coordination mechanism linking Arab monitoring bodies with relevant departments of its General Secretariat, he said. The aim would be to standardize methods of monitoring and documentation and produce regular material that could be used in political, media and legal efforts. Ambassador Salah Halima, a former Egyptian assistant foreign minister, told Arab News that Fahmy’s remarks provided a road map for how Arab delegations were likely to approach the Palestinian issue at the General Assembly. Halima strongly criticized Israel’s conduct in Gaza and the West Bank, accusing it of violating international law and seeking to displace Palestinians from Gaza. He said meaningful sanctions would require either action by individual governments or coordinated measures by blocs such as the EU. “Imposing sanctions on Israel could only be achieved through serious action by individual countries or through the collective efforts of countries such as the European Union,” he said. The calls for greater pressure coincided with warnings from UN officials over developments in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told the 63rd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday that more than 1,300 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza since the ceasefire was announced almost a year ago. “In the West Bank, Israel’s annexation is unfolding, unobstructed, despite the clear ruling of the International Court of Justice,” Turk said. “What more will it take for states to take action to prevent the entrenchment of occupation across land earmarked for Palestinians under the two-state solution?” He called on countries to halt arms transfers to Israel where there was a risk that weapons could be used in violations of international law, and urged companies to end business practices supporting illegal settlements. The warnings come amid a worsening humanitarian situation in both Gaza and the West Bank, where food insecurity and displacement have increased sharply. The UN World Food Programme announced last week that funding shortages would force it to halve the number of people receiving food assistance in the West Bank. The WFP estimates that around 900,000 people there are food insecure, with settler violence, displacement and disruption to livelihoods contributing to rising need. The agency had been assisting about 400,000 of the most vulnerable people but said that figure would fall to 200,000 from this month because of funding constraints. Food assistance needs in the West Bank have more than doubled since 2023, according to the agency. Former Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed El-Orabi told Arab News that a central weakness of the international response remained the gap between UN recommendations and concrete action. “There are two contradictory actions on the part of the United Nations,” he said. “It issues recommendations concerning Palestine, but on the other hand there is no serious action regarding sanctions.” El-Orabi said greater political pressure would likely have to come from major international actors, including the EU, particularly through economic measures. Ambassador Rakha Ahmed Hassan, another former Egyptian assistant foreign minister, said repeated UN debates on Palestine had produced recommendations that were rarely implemented. He accused Israel of disregarding the UN Charter and criticized Israeli actions affecting humanitarian assistance and UN agencies serving Palestinian refugees. Hassan said continuing to raise the Palestinian issue at the General Assembly nevertheless remained an important means of maintaining political pressure on Israel. Repeated discussion by Arab delegations and countries supporting the Palestinians, he added, ensured the issue remained on the international agenda even when resolutions were not implemented. Fahmy has repeatedly reaffirmed the Arab League’s support for Palestinians remaining on their land and rejected proposals that would alter Gaza’s geography or demography. He has also maintained that the future of Gaza cannot be separated from the wider Palestinian question and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with relevant international resolutions. As Arab officials head into this year’s General Assembly, their challenge will be to translate that longstanding diplomatic position into practical international pressure. The league’s new documentation mechanism appears designed to strengthen the political and legal case presented by Arab states, but several of the diplomats who spoke to Arab News argued that the decisive question remains whether major international powers are prepared to move beyond statements and resolutions toward tangible measures.