ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani will represent Pakistan to the urgent open-ended ministerial meeting of the OIC Executive Committee being held on Wednesday (today) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to discuss Israeli aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip and the deteriorating humanitarian situation.

Hosted by Saudi Arabia, the current chair of the Islamic Summit and the Executive Committee, the meeting will take place at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Foreign Office said that Foreign Minister Jilani, in his statement at the ministerial meeting, will present Pakistan’s serious concerns about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and emphasise the urgent need for a ceasefire, lifting of the siege and provision of relief assistance to the people of Gaza.

On the sidelines, it added that the caretaker foreign minister will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from other OIC member states.

The meeting is being held at a time when the Israeli occupation forces are threatening the besieged Gaza with ground invasion while United States President Joe Biden is also visiting Israel on the same day on Wednesday in a “show of solidarity.”

Since the conflict started on October 7 between Israel and Hamas, more than 2,800 Palestinian people have been killed in Israeli bombing, around a quarter of them children, and nearly 11,000 wounded are in hospitals desperately short of supplies.

In a statement, the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah said that the open-ended emergency extraordinary meeting of the OIC Executive Committee will discuss the aggression against the Gaza Strip and the deteriorating humanitarian situation, which poses a threat to the security of civilians and jeopardises regional stability.

Through the statement, Hissein Brahim Taha, the OIC secretary-general, expressed his confidence in the committee’s ability to adopt a strong and unified position. He emphasised that the meeting comes at a time when the Palestinian people are experiencing tragic situations.

He stressed that the Palestinian question is a high-priority issue on the organisation’s agenda and enjoys continuous support from member states.

A Foreign Office statement on Tuesday stated that the meeting has been co-convened by Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The foreign minister has been engaged in consultations with his counterparts of OIC countries. In the lead up to this Extraordinary Session, he has held telephone conversations with the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Iran, Türkiye and the UAE, it added.

During these consultations, the foreign minister expressed Pakistan’s deep concerns on the current situation in Gaza resulting from Israeli bombardment and siege of the enclave. He will continue these consultations with in-person meetings in Jeddah, the press release said.

Subsequent efforts should be directed towards a just, comprehensive and lasting solution to the Palestinian question anchored in international law and in line with relevant United Nations and OIC resolutions. A viable, sovereign and contiguous State of Palestine should be established on the basis of pre-1967 borders, with Al Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, it concluded.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023