OIC condemns Israel’s backers

JEDDAH: The Executive Committee of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in its extraordinary open-ended meeting held at the level of foreign ministers on Wednesday, upon the joint invitation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Chair of the current session of the Islamic Summit and Chair of the Executive Committee, and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, to discuss the ongoing Israeli military aggression against the Palestinian people.

Recalling the principles and objectives contained in the Charter of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, emphasising all resolutions issued by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation regarding the issue of Palestine and the City of Al-Quds Al-Sharif; reaffirming its emphasis on the centrality of the Palestinian issue for the entire Islamic Ummah; supporting the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, most notably their right to self-determination and the return of Palestinian refugees, their right to independence, and the embodiment of the independent and sovereign State of Palestine on the borders of June 4th, 1967, with its capital, Al-Quds Al-Sharif, as well as its legitimate right to self-defence to confront the Israeli aggression that targets their lives, their sanctities, and their properties; in light of the blatant and unprecedented Israeli aggression in the occupied Palestinian territory and the heinous massacres perpetrated against civilians in Gaza Strip by the Israeli occupation forces, which led to hundreds of innocent civilian casualties, thousands of injuries, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands through the demolition of their homes:

OIC condemns continuing Israeli military aggression against Palestinians

1- Calls for the immediate cessation of the barbaric aggression of the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian people and the immediate lifting of the siege imposed to the Gaza Strip; reaffirms its strong condemnation of the unprecedented aggression against civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip and the entire occupied Palestinian territory by killing, bombing, deliberately destroying infrastructure, threatening to commit atrocities and to exterminate them, as well as, the absolute rejection of targeting civilians under any pretext or displacing them from their homes, or starving and depriving them of safe access to humanitarian aid in contravention of all international norms and laws, and of the most basic humanitarian principles and values;

2- Calls upon all countries to quickly provide humanitarian, medical and relief aid, water and electricity, and to open humanitarian corridors immediately in order to safely deliver urgent aid to the Gaza Strip, including through the United Nations institutions particularly the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and support its efforts in this regard; warns of the danger of continuing the policy of deliberate targeting of civilians and collective punishment accompanied by policies of starvation, water deprivation, and the stopping of the only power generation station in Gaza Strip suspended due to the prevention of fuel access, portending a real disaster for all health and humanitarian services, in contravention of international humanitarian law and amounting to the commission of international crimes, including the crime against humanity.

3- Strongly condemns the blatant targeting by Israel’s brutal occupation forces of Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza Strip, which killed and injured hundreds of innocent sick, injured and displaced innocent civilians, which represents a war crime, extermination and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, ethics and international and humanitarian instruments, calls upon the international community to act swiftly and to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for these heinous war crimes against the Palestinian people and humanity as at large, and calls for immediate intervention to halt this massacre.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023