UAE in G7 session: Lebanese president must fill power vacuum

The UAE participated in the 2024 G7 Foreign Affairs Ministers’ Meeting session focusing on the Middle East, stressing the need for the election of a Lebanese president to fill the power vacuum.

The Minister of State for International Cooperation, Reem Al Hashimy, emphasised the UAE's commitment to addressing the ongoing crises in the region.

She stressed the critical need to address the political instability and support the election of a president to fill the existing power vacuum. 

She underscored the need for urgent political solutions that comply with international law and the UN Charter, calling for immediate ceasefires in Gaza, and Sudan, and highlighting the necessity of intensifying both regional and international cooperation to bring an end to these conflicts.

Al Hashimy highlighted the UAE’s ongoing role in providing humanitarian assistance to Gaza through land, air and sea, including facilitating medical evacuations of the sick and injured, and the establishment of two field hospitals.

The UAE expressed deep concern over the ongoing conflict in Sudan, calling on the Sudanese warring parties to return to dialogue, respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, and facilitate safe, urgent, and unhindered access to humanitarian aid.

The special outreach session brought together leaders from the G7 member states- the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Japan.  Also for the first time, the G7 ministers were joined by their counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, the so-called “Arab Quintet,” as well as the Secretary General of the Arab League.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty reaffirmed that Cairo would host a minister-level conference next Monday on mobilising international aid for Gaza.

“We need a ceasefire, a permanent ceasefire. That will stop the killings and stop the destruction and restore a sense of normalcy to life,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told the conference.