“Hamas must end its rule in Gaza,” reads a declaration endorsed by the 22 member nations of the Arab League.

The world’s Arab countries for the first time have joined unanimously in the call for Hamas to lay down its weapons, release all hostages and end its rule of the Gaza Strip, conditions that they said could help the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The declaration called for the deployment of “a temporary international stabilization mission,” invited by the Palestinian Authority, which administers part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and “under the aegis of the United Nations.”

Last week, France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, announced that his country would recognize a Palestinian state and would formalize it in September. Britain soon followed suit, announcing that it would recognize a Palestinian state in September if there was no cease-fire agreement in Gaza.

Other countries have indicated their willingness to recognize a Palestinian state ahead of the annual U.N. General Assembly in the fall. Among them are Australia, Canada, Finland, Malta, Portugal and New Zealand.

A document called the “New York Declaration,” which provides a phased road map for ending the nearly 80-year conflict between Israelis and Palestinians and the creation of a Palestinian state, was circulated among U.N. member states, who have until September to endorse it before the General Assembly.

Read the full article here: Arab States Call for Hamas to Disarm Amid Push for a Palestinian State – The New York Times