On 1 November, Algeria will be hosting the first Arab League Summit since the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020, which saw a number of Arab states including Bahrain, the UAE, and Morocco normalize ties with Israel.

The last Arab League summit took place in 2019, a year before the normalization treaties were signed.

Leaders and delegations representing the Arab states began arriving in the country’s capital Algiers on 30 November.

Among those included was the President of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas, the Chairman of Yemen’s Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council Rashid al-Alimi, Bahrain’s Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, and caretaker Prime Minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati.

Algerian Foreign Minister, Ramtane Lamamra, said that the foreign ministers of the Arab states held consultations for two days, beginning on 29 October, in order to kick off the summit. Among the main topics of discussion in this year’s Arab League summit will be the Palestinian issue, as well as the growing food crisis looming over the region.

The summit is expected to emphasize finding a solution to the issue of Palestine under the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which calls for an independent Palestinian state under the 1967 borders, with east Jerusalem as its capital.

Algeria launches this summit at a time when the North African country’s status as a regional gas exporter has been bolstered, and while it has been cooperating with major powers such as Russia and China.

As Lebanon suffers from a severe economic crisis and fuel shortages, the country’s representatives, including Mikati and Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayyad, have attended the summit in the hopes of securing Algeria as a source of energy.

In August, Fayyad said that Algeria is ready to provide the country with fuel for its electricity plants, and is willing to do so through Sonatrach, the North African country’s state-owned oil company.

Among the other topics set to be discussed is the conflict in Yemen, in which a brittle ceasefire held since April has finally collapsed after it expired on 2 October.