Arab governments agreed to send their foreign ministers to Cairo for an emergency meeting on Saturday to discuss Israeli attacks on Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, the Arab League said on Thursday.
But the 22-member League has not yet seen specific proposals for a joint Arab response to the attacks in which Israel has killed more than 75 people, mainly civilians, in two days. An Arab diplomat said: "The meeting will show solidarity and send a message to the Lebanese and Palestinians that the Arabs have not abandoned them."
"It will also put pressure on the Israelis to cease their actions, especially as many civilians have been killed," added the diplomat, who asked not to be named. He did not say how the Arab states could put pressure on Israel.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in a statement that the Arab League and the UN Security Council should act at once to make the parties exercise self-restraint and not to increase tension in the region.
Arab League members lobbied for a UN Security Council resolution earlier this month to promote an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, including an exchange of prisoners. The council did not adopt its proposals.