The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called on the United Nations Security Council to take responsibility for enforcing an “immediate and comprehensive” halt to Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and ensuring the sufficient and sustained delivery of humanitarian aid throughout Gaza.
This demand was made in the final statement of the extraordinary open-ended executive committee meeting of the OIC’s foreign ministers, held at the organization’s headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The meeting aimed to address the continuous crimes of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people and its attacks on the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The statement strongly condemned the ongoing war crimes, aggression, and acts of genocide committed by the Israeli entity in Gaza and the West Bank, including Jerusalem. These acts have resulted in the death and injury of over 140,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom are women and children, the destruction of vital infrastructure, and the displacement of more than two million Palestinians over the course of 300 days.
The statement also condemned the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, former Palestinian Prime Minister and head of the political bureau of Hamas, during his visit to Tehran. The Israeli occupation was held fully responsible for this “heinous assault,” which was deemed a blatant violation of international law, the UN Charter, and a severe attack on Iran’s sovereignty and national security.
The OIC reaffirmed the “central importance” of the Palestinian cause and Jerusalem to the entire Islamic Ummah. It stressed the need to maintain the Arab and Islamic identity of Jerusalem and uphold Palestinian sovereignty over it as an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territories since 1967 and the capital of the State of Palestine. The statement emphasized the necessity to respect the existing legal and historical status of the holy sites, particularly the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is exclusively for Muslim worship across its entire 144,000 square meters.
The final statement warned against the increasing pace of Israeli colonial settlements and the “danger of annexation of occupied Palestinian lands,” as well as the daily crimes committed by the Israeli army and settler militias in the West Bank. These actions, which include attacks on unarmed Palestinian civilians, their properties, and sacred sites, aim to forcibly displace them.
The statement expressed “deep concern” over the intensification of Israeli “brutal” crimes and unprecedented violations against thousands of Palestinian prisoners, including executions, torture, starvation, rape, isolation, and enforced disappearances, particularly among detainees from Gaza. It called on relevant international organizations to uncover the fate of Palestinian prisoners, ensure their immediate release, and demand an independent investigation into all Israeli crimes and violations against them.
Furthermore, the statement vehemently condemned the adoption of “illegitimate racist laws” by Israel, including the decision to reject the establishment of a Palestinian state and designate UNRWA as a “terrorist organization,” as well as the legalization of settlement outposts and the piracy of Palestinian tax funds.
The statement also condemned the ongoing raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque, describing them as “provocative steps that are strongly condemned and blatant violations of international law and the established historical and legal status of Jerusalem and its holy sites.” It called on the international community, including the Security Council, to take immediate and effective action to stop these provocations.
In this regard, the statement welcomed the recent legal opinion of the International Court of Justice affirming the “illegitimacy of Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories and its colonial settlements.” It called for immediate steps to end the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.
The statement underscored the importance of the joint Arab-Islamic ministerial team in following up on the implementation of the ICJ’s legal opinion, garnering more recognition for the State of Palestine, achieving full membership in the United Nations, and convening an international peace conference to implement the two-state solution. This solution aims to end the occupation and lead to the independence of the State of Palestine along the June 4, 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital, based on relevant UN resolutions.
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