Jeddah (UNA-OIC) - The extraordinary meeting of the open-ended Executive Committee at the level of foreign ministers of the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation called for an immediate cessation of the barbaric aggression of the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, stressing its rejection of calls to displace the population of Gaza Strip.
This came in the Final Communique issued by the meeting held today, Wednesday (October 18, 2023) at the OIC's headquarters in Jeddah to discuss the continuing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, especially the Gaza Strip.
The Executive Committee meeting reaffirmed its strong condemnation of the unprecedented aggression against civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territory by killing and its absolute rejection of targeting civilians under any pretext.
The Executive Committee called 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).
It warned 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 the 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.
The Executive Committee meeting strongly condemned the blatant targeting by Israel's brutal occupation forces of Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the 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.
It emphasized that Israel, as the occupying power, bears full responsibility for the fate of civilians in the Gaza Strip and the real tragedy they are subjected to under bombardment, siege, and starvation, without electricity, food, or clean water, while being forced to abandon their homes, and for the policy of indiscriminate collective punishment that it applies in a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law, as well as its legal responsibilities as the occupying power in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.
The ministerial meeting categorically rejected calls to displace the population of the Gaza Strip and affirmed its support for the steadfastness of the Palestinian people on their land.
It called on OIC Member states to apply all feasible and effective diplomatic, legal and deterrent measures to stop the occupying power Israel's crimes against humanity.
It also called for an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers at the OIC-GS Headquarters to discuss the ongoing crimes of Israel against the Palestinian people.
The Executive Committee meeting stressed the importance for the international community to play its role in preventing any attempt of forced displacement of the Palestinian population from their land, transferring the crisis to the neighbouring countries and exacerbating issue of Palestinian refugees whose right to compensation and return must be dealt with in the framework of a comprehensive solution to the conflict that addresses the final status issues in conformity with the pertinent UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative; stopping the military escalation, lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip, and contributing urgently to the entry of relief and humanitarian aid for civilians.
The ministerial meeting expressed its strong regret and condemnation of the failure of the United Nations Security Council and its inability to discharge its responsibilities by taking a decisive decision to halt the war crimes carried out by the Israeli occupying forces against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and all Palestinian territory.
It stressed the support of the Government of the State of Palestine at all levels, including the political, economic and financial levels, as well as its international and legal endeavours, to halt the heinous crimes, including the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people.
The Executive Committee meeting deplored the international positions that back the brutal aggression against the Palestinian people and grant Israel impunity, taking advantage of the double standards that provide cover for the occupying power and fuel the conflict, which will only lead to increased violence and destruction, and seek to punish the Palestinian people, including cutting off humanitarian aid to them.
It reaffirmed that peace, security and stability in the region will not be achieved without putting an end to the Israeli colonial occupation and its oppressive practices against the Palestinian people and by empowering the Palestinian people with their inalienable rights, particularly their right to self-determination, independence and return, on the basis of the international law and the resolutions of international legitimacy.
