Extraordinary meeting of Foreign Ministers Council of Organization of Islamic Cooperation discusses Israeli aggression, catastrophic situation in Gaza

JEDDAH: The extraordinary meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation kicked off in Jeddah of Saudi Arabia, to discuss the continuing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people. During the meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates in the caretaker government, Riyad al-Maliki, said that today's meeting comes while the situation in Palestine is deteriorating and becoming more tragic, as the Israeli occupation authorities imposed a series of disastrous facts on 2.3 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. He added that Israel is using a deliberate policy of starvation as a means of war, which has claimed the lives of nearly 20 children in the past few days. Within four months, Israel, the occupying power, killed at least 30,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, injured more than 80,000 people, buried nearly 10,000 under rubble, and forcibly held thousands in horrific conditions. Happening live before our eyes, Israe l has destroyed 85 percent of the Gaza Strip, killed children through bombing, disease and starvation, and deprived the wounded and sick of their most basic rights to access treatment and the simplest types of medicines, including insulin and anesthetics, which Israel prevents its entry to the besieged and destroyed Strip, he said. The minister revealed that 80 percent of the hungriest people in the world today live in Gaza. 'We cannot and must not stand by and watch as the international order is being dismantled to provide cover and protection for Israel's genocidal war,' al-Maliki said. 'We must, without hesitation confront with action the countries that continue to arm and protect this aggression.' He affirmed that these governments need to receive a strong unambiguous message that their complicity in genocide and their double standards will have dire diplomatic, political and economic consequences. 'We have the power and influence to make the continuation of this genocide morally, politically and fina ncially indefensible for countries that continue to enable and support this brutal war. Countries engaged in this genocide must understand that their interests and relationships with the Muslim world are at risk,' al-Maliki affirmed. He stressed that the situation in Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied West Bank is also as bad as the situation in Gaza. 'The occupation forces and colonial militias unleashed a campaign of organized terror, destruction and killings against the civilian population, killing and wounding hundreds, including children,' he pointed out. With the approach of the holy month of Ramadan and the Christian holiday of Easter, al-Maliki said, the occupying authority announced its intention to impose further restrictions on the basic rights of believers in Palestine to access the Christian and Islamic holy places in Jerusalem. Al-Maliki added that more than a month has passed since the International Court of Justice ordered provisional measures to be taken, affirming that the occupying power, Israel, continues to act with complete impunity and gross disregard for humanity, the lives of Palestinians and international law. Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Hussein Ibrahim Taha, indicated that this meeting comes in light of the continued Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and Israel's continued violation of international norms and laws and committing war crimes, the latest of which is against civilians while they are receiving aid. He also welcomed the temporary measures called for by the International Court of Justice. He urged all countries to exert all forms of pressure on the occupation to stop the acts of genocide it is committing against the Palestinian people. 'We followed with concern the suspension by several countries of their financial contributions to UNRWA in light of the Israeli incitement campaign against this agency,' he said, stressing the importance of UNRWA's role, especially at the present time. For his part, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said that the time has come to recognize the Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, demanding the international community protect civilians in Gaza. "We reiterate the necessity of ending the suffering of the Palestinian people and enabling them to establish their state,' he affirmed. He added that the international community is still unable to stop the massacre in the Gaza Strip, emphasizing that it must fulfill its responsibilities to protect civilians and prevent their forced displacement in Gaza. Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA