The closing statement of the African summit condemned the assassination of Al-Jazeera correspondent, Palestinian journalist Sherine Abu Aqleh, and affirmed its support for an independent international investigation to uncover the circumstances of her assassination.
The African Union declaration on Palestine denounced the continued Israeli intransigence in rejecting the calls of the Palestinian leadership and the international community for peaceful negotiations.
The statement stated that it supports the direction of the State of Palestine to renew its request for full membership in the United Nations, and also called on all countries to accept this membership, stressing full support for the Palestinian people in their resistance to the Israeli occupation.
The expulsion of the Israeli delegation
The Chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, denied that the Commission had invited Israel to attend the African Summit, adding - in response to a question by Al-Jazeera correspondent during the closing press conference of the African Summit - that the issue of the presence of the Israeli delegation is now under investigation, and that the legal situation regarding Israel's acceptance as an observer member of the Union is pending. Until the committee of seven that was formed last year decided for this purpose.
Faki told Al-Jazeera, "Last year we discussed Israel's status as an observer in the African Union, and after these various discussions, the conference decided to form a committee of heads of state on this issue. This means that the legal situation is pending until this committee decides. Therefore, we did not invite Israeli officials to our summit."
He added, "We noticed the presence of a person who entered the hall with an entry card, and we asked her to leave the place, and we are doing the necessary investigations because she is a person who does not reside here and came from Israel, and no one can arrive here except at the invitation of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, and we did not invite any official, and we noticed what It happened and we will investigate to determine the responsibilities."
An Israeli delegation headed by Sharon Barley, deputy director of the Africa Department at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, tried to participate Saturday in the opening session of the summit, but the opposition of African countries prevented it from doing so.
Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the delegations of Algeria and South Africa objected to the participation of the Israeli delegation, which necessitated the intervention of the security services to ask the delegation to leave the hall.
The expulsion incident took place with the launch of the 36th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in the Ethiopian capital, under the slogan "Accelerate the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area."
When the Israeli delegation was expelled, the Palestinian Prime Minister, Muhammad Shtayyeh, was present in the hall, with the chair of the African Union Commission, Musa Faki, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres.
Israeli anger
The Israeli Foreign Ministry expressed its deep anger, and said in a statement that the Israeli official delegation was treated in a rude manner.
Tel Aviv accused Algeria and South Africa directly of being behind the incident, noting that the African Union is hostage to countries driven by hatred, according to its expression.
Israel obtained observer status in the African Union in 2021, and the move was opposed by countries including South Africa and Algeria, which said that this contradicts the positions of the Union in support of the Palestinians, and the Palestinians also demanded the withdrawal of observer status from Israel.
Last year, the African Union unanimously suspended the decision to grant observer status to Israel, and announced the formation of a committee to consider the matter.
Summit closing
The African summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, concluded on Sunday evening with the ratification of the final statement, which included the most prominent projects and decisions submitted to the summit by the Ministerial Council.
The final statement dealt with several economic, political and security issues, most notably accelerating the activation of the African Free Trade Area, the Silencing the Guns initiative to settle conflicts in the continent within an African framework, supporting democratic transition processes, rejecting military coups and not recognizing the regimes based on them.
The Chairperson of the African Union Commission also referred to the priority of the free trade zone project, stressing that a number of countries have already begun the implementation phase.
The Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union, Bancole Adeoye, called on the sponsors of mercenaries and foreign fighters to withdraw them immediately from Africa.
He said in a statement to Al-Jazeera that the "Silencing the Guns" initiative will focus in its next phase on confronting armed groups.
Regarding the repercussions of the Russian war in Ukraine on the African arena, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said that Russia has become a major challenge, not only in Ukraine but also in other regions of the world, including the African continent.
In a statement to Al-Jazeera on the sidelines of his country's participation as an observer in the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Costa stressed the need to strengthen the European presence in Africa to counter Russian influence.
For his part, Algerian Prime Minister Ayman Ben Abdel Rahman said that most African countries devote a large part of their budget to paying debts.
Bin Abdul Rahman added - in a statement to Al-Jazeera on the sidelines of the summit - that many African countries cannot withstand until the end of this year because of the burdens of these debts, according to him.