Israel's separation wall and threats of transfer have sparked a flurry of Arab diplomatic activity, reports Dina Ezzat With just a few weeks to go till the Arab Summit the region faces escalating military tensions with Israel alongside old and new political and legal battles in the occupied territories. Whether the Arab Summit, expected to take place in March in Tunis, can deliver on stability for the Arab world largely depends on developments on the military and political fronts. And no one is being optimistic. Late Tuesday Israeli warplanes attacked Hizbullah positions in southern Lebanon in an escalation that, observers say, could ignite a new phase of confrontation between Israel and both Lebanon and Syria. The Israeli attack followed the death of an Israeli soldier on Monday. He was killed by a Hizbullah anti-tank rocket fired at an army bulldozer that UN Interim Forces in Lebanon say had strayed onto Lebanese soil. Both Hizbullah and Israel have vowed to continue the confrontation. Meanwhile, Israeli and American officials have been busy blaming Syria for supporting the Hizbullah attacks amid a commotion of threats against Damascus. On the political front Arab-Israeli tensions are expected to escalate in coming weeks as both sides prepare arguments to present to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ICJ will open hearings over the legality or otherwise of the separation wall Israel is constructing across the Palestinian occupied territories -- as requested by the UN General Assembly -- on 23 February. The Arab League and four Arab countries -- Egypt, Palestine, Jordan and Saudi Arabia -- will present evidence to the ICJ on the illegality of the construction of the wall and its negative humanitarian and political consequences. "The wall is an illegal act by an occupying power that aims to create a de facto situation to change the typography of the occupied territories in violation of the relevant Geneva Convention," says Mohamed Gom'a, an expert in international law. The construction of the separation wall, Gom'a says, entails the implicit, and illegal, annexation of territories occupied by the use of military force. According to Gom'a the construction of the wall is an affront not only to Arab countries but to the international community in general. Its construction is a display of contempt for international norms and standards, including international law and human rights. The wall, Arab diplomats argue, has major, and potentially catastrophic, implications for Palestine's immediate neighbours, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. For along with its construction Israel is once again contemplating a massive transfer of Palestinians currently living in the occupied territories. The Israeli press has been reporting that in addition to the wall Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon has revived the 'Jordan is Palestine' formula to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is a development that has prompted a vociferous political fall-out between Israel and Jordan. Jordanian officials and the pro- government Jordanian press have publicly denounced the construction of the "racist wall of hatred". Israeli officials, including Sharon, have threatened to end "the strategic relationship" between Israel and Jordan. Jordanian officials say they cannot accommodate more Palestinian refugees. The Syrians and Lebanese are alarmed at the possibility of being inundated by a new wave of refugees either crossing or on their borders. Saudi Arabia is floating a set of political initiatives to confront Israel's transfer plans and reduce overall tension in the region. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal has been in touch with Arab and European players to discuss Riyadh's ideas. According to Saudi diplomatic sources those ideas are based on a collective Arab effort, backed by the UN and European states, to re-invigorate the Arab Peace Initiative, originally proposed by Riyadh and adopted by the Arab Summit in 2002. That initiative offered complete normalisation of relations in return for a just peace. The Saudis are proposing that Arab diplomacy should collectively attempt to secure mid-level Israeli-Syrian talks as well as a cooling of tensions in Palestine that would allow for a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Ahmed Qurei. Saudi Arabia has also expressed interest in a proposal floated by Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Palestinians to convene an anti- transfer conference that could take place this spring in the Lebanese capital. Earlier this month Lebanese Foreign Minister Jean Ebeid discussed the issue at length with Al-Faisal in Riyadh. Lebanon, like Jordan, believes it cannot accommodate any more refugees. "We have ideas to break the political impasse that has inevitably descended on the Middle East at a time when the US administration is increasingly caught up in election fever," said Al-Faisal, in Cairo this week for talks with senior Egyptian officials and the Arab League secretary-general as part of ongoing Arab diplomatic consultations. On 10 February the Saudi proposals, along with other developments in the region, will be examined when Arab foreign ministers meet at the Cairo headquarters of the Arab League in the first of the series of ministerial meetings that will lead up to the Arab Summit.
