Arab leaders promise to work on reconstruction of Gaza and press for a ceasefire

BAGHDAD (AP) — Arab leaders at an annual summit in Baghdad called Saturday for an immediate end to Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip and to allow aid into the Palestinian territories without conditions. They promised to contribute to the reconstruction of the territory once the war stops.

In March, an emergency Arab League summit in Cairo endorsed a plan for Gaza's reconstruction without displacing its roughly 2 million residents.

Saturday’s summit was attended by Arab leaders including Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Siss i. The Egyptian leader said that even if Israel succeeds in normalizing relations with all Arab states, “a lasting, just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East will remain elusive unless a Palestinian state is established in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions.” Egypt was the first Arab country to normalize ties with Israel.

Among the guests were Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, who called for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza and the flow of aid into the besieged territory. He said that the U.N. rejects any “forced displacement” of Palestinians.

Saturday’s summit comes two months after Israel ended a ceasefire reached with the Hamas militant group in January. In recent days, Israel has launched widespread attacks in Gaza and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed a further escalation to pursue his aim of destroying Hamas.

“This genocide has reached levels of ugliness not seen in all conflicts throughout history,” Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a speech that called for allowing aid to flow into Gaza. Al-Sudani added that Iraq will work on setting up an Arab fund for the reconstruction of the region in which Baghdad will pay $20 million for Gaza and a similar amount for Lebanon.

“We demand an immediate end to the Israeli aggression on Gaza and an end to hostilities that are increasing the suffering of innocent civilians,” said the final statement issued after the summit that was read by Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein. “Humanitarian aid should be allowed into all areas in Palestine without conditions.”

The leaders said they reject any attempt to displace Palestinians in Gaza saying that any such move would be “a crime against humanity and (an act of) ethnic cleansing.” The statement said Arab leaders support Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' call for the holding of an international peace conference that leads to a two-state solution.

El-Sissi said that Egypt, in coordination with Qatar and the U.S., is “exerting intense efforts to reach a ceasefire” in Gaza, adding that the efforts led to the release of Israel-American hostage Edan Alexander. He said that Egypt plans to hold an international conference for the reconstruction of Gaza “once the aggression stops.”

Abbas, the Palestinian president, called on Hamas to abandon power in Gaza and along with other militant groups to hand over weapons to the Palestinian Authority. Hamas seized control of Gaza from Abbas’ Western-backed Palestinian Authority in 2007, and reconciliation attempts between the rivals have repeatedly failed.

The Baghdad meeting was upstaged by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tour in the region earlier in the week. Trump’s visit did not usher in a deal for a new ceasefire in Gaza as many had hoped, but he grabbed headlines by meeting with new Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa — who had once fought against U.S. forces in Iraq — and promising to remove U.S. sanctions imposed on Syria.

Al-Sharaa did not attend the summit in Baghdad, where Syria’s delegation was headed by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani. Iraqi Shiite militias and political factions are wary of al-Sharaa’s past as a Sunni militant and had pushed back against his invitation to the summit.

During Syria’s conflict that began in March 2011, several Iraqi Shiite militias fought alongside the forces of former Syrian President Bashar Assad, making al-Sharaa today a particularly sensitive figure for them.

The statement issued after the summit said Arab leaders back Syria's unity and reject foreign intervention in the country. They condemned Israel's airstrikes and land incursions into Syria over the past months.

They praised Trump's plans to lift the sanctions imposed on Syria and the easing of European sanctions recently saying that would “speed up recovery and the reconstruction process” in the war-torn country.

An Iraqi official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media, said that Iran’s Quds Force commander Esmail Ghaani paid a visit to Baghdad prior to the summit and “conveyed messages of support for the Iranian-American negotiations” to reach a nuclear deal and lifting of crippling sanctions on Iran.

Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

Arab leaders attend the opening session of the 34th Arab League summit, in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Foto/Hadi Mizban, Pool)

Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani attends the 34th Arab League summitin Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Foto/Hadi Mizban, Pool)

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres attends the 34th Arab League summit, in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani attends the 34th Arab League summit, in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sissi attends the 34th Arab League summit, in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, right, welcomes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas upon arrival at Baghdad International Airport ahead of the 34th Arab League summit, in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday May 16, 2025. (Murtadha Al-Sudani/Pool Photo via AP)

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein meets with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam ahead of the 34th Arab League summit in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, May 16, 2025. (Thaier Al-Sudani/Pool Photo via AP)

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, center right, welcomes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas upon arrival at Baghdad International Airport ahead of the 34th Arab League summit, in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday May 16, 2025. (Murtadha Al-Sudani/Pool Photo via AP)

MONTREAL (AP) — After receiving their first wake-up call of the playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes have responded like the beasts of the East they have been all season.

Following a loss to open the Eastern Conference Final, the Hurricanes have won back-to-back games in overtime to take a 2-1 lead against Montreal in the best-of-seven series. They look like their old selves again, and it has them two games from reaching to the Stanley Cup Final.

“We’re feeling good about playing hockey again,” said winger Taylor Hall, who scored his fourth goal this postseason in Game 3 on Monday night. “Now the game is starting to slow down, and you’re making reads without even having to think about it.”

That spells trouble for the Canadiens, who registered just two shots on goal combined over the third period and OT. Carolina has outshot Montreal 64-26 over the past two games.

“They throw a lot to the net, so they’re going to outshoot you,” said Montreal's Cole Caufield, who scored 51 goals during the regular season. “I think everybody that plays them knows that, and you can’t look at it that way — that they kind of tilt the ice that much.”

Shot volume is something the Hurricanes have done consistently in the eight years since coach Rod Brind'Amour took over. What has changed in this series is preventing the young, skilled Canadiens from generating offense.

“You need everything working against a team like that,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “I don’t think you can just rely on the power play.”

Caufield chalked up his team's struggles to Carolina's pace and aggressive play. That the brand of hockey Brind'Amour wants to play.

“It’s putting the stress on them,” defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere said. “It’s a hard system for us to play sometimes because you’ve got to be on your toes. You’re always skating. But you can see it’s pretty effective, and it’s probably not the best to play against.”

It did not look at all right in Game 1 last week, which the Canadiens won 6-2 after getting off to a hot start, finding long breakout passes and staying patient in solving Carolina's relentless forecheck to hand the Hurricanes their first loss of the playoffs.

“It’s definitely a turning point for us: a little adversity,” Gostisbehere said. “Having two sweeps the first two rounds — not a lot of adversity in that sense. For us, it was a good kick in the teeth.”

The Hurricanes are now as close to the final as they've been during this run of success under Brind'Amour, which included getting swept twice and losing in five games in their three previous trips to the East final. This spring, they are 5-0 on the road and 5-0 in overtime thanks to a consistent approach.

“We try to play our game home and away,” first-line center Sebastian Aho said. “The game’s the same, I feel like. Obviously the environment is a little bit different, whether you’re home or away. But I feel like the game stays the same.”

Game 4 at Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday night is Carolina's first chance to move to the verge of making the final. The Canadiens feel like they have another level to get to, and they need to find it quickly.

"We didn’t expect this to be easy, and we’re OK with that," St. Louis said. “There’s not one thing. We have to put it all together. You’re at this stage right now, you have to put it all together. Execution’s part of that. Jam is part of that. There’s not one thing. We’ve just got to put it all together, and I know we can.”

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Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho (20) and Andrei Svechnikov (37) celebrate in front of Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) after the winning goal by Aho in overtime of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens in Montreal, Monday, May 25, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

Carolina Hurricanes' Andrei Svechnikov celebrates his goal with teammates after an overtime period of Game 3 of the NHL Eastern Conference final Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens, in Montreal, Monday, May 25, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP) CORRECTION: Corrected the scorer to Andrei Svechnikov

Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho (20) reacts after the teammate Andrei Svechnikov scored on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes (75) as teammate Juraj Slafkovsky (20) looks on during an overtime period of Game 3 of the NHL Eastern Conference final Stanley Cup playoff series in Montreal, Monday, May 25, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP) CORRECTION: Corrected the scorer to Andrei Svechnikov