RIYADH, May 16: The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council in an extraordinary meeting of its foreign ministers here, convened by Saudi Arabia to discuss the current political situation concerning the Palestine issue, upheld an Arab offer of peace with Israel, rejecting all forms of violence.

The meeting also slammed Israel’s ruling Likud party for rejecting a Palestinian state and commended the ‘new orientations’ in the US policy on the Palestinian issue.

In a statement at the end of the foreign ministers’ meeting here Wednesday, the GCC also urged the United States and the international community to put pressure on Israel to pull out of the Palestinian lands it has reoccupied.

Oman’s minister of state for foreign affairs Yousuf ibn Alawi Abdullah, whose country holds the rotating GCC presidency, told reporters here that Israeli leaders, chiefly those from the Likud, appeared to be ‘swimming against the tide’ by failing to respond to the Arab and global peace initiatives.

He commended the ‘new orientations’ in the US policy on the Palestinian issue and said it would help revive the Middle East peace process.

He also noted Washington was now more appreciative of the Palestinian and Arab positions.

The GCC ministers declared their commitment to the Saudi-inspired Arab peace plan as the basis of any move to achieve a just, durable and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

In a statement they said the rejection of a Palestinian state by the ruling Likud Party of Israel would obstruct efforts to maintain peace in the region.

Saudi foreign minister Saud Al-Faisal briefed his GCC counterparts on the Sharm-el-Shaikh tripartite summit of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria to discuss the issue.