OIC Holds Emergency Meeting To Discuss Ongoing Israeli Aggression Against Palestinian People

Jeddah: The emergency meeting of the Executive Committee at the level of permanent representatives of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) began Tuesday to discuss the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and the targeting of holy sites in the occupied Palestinian territories.

In his speech during the opening session, the OIC Secretary-General Hussein Ibrahim Taha, warned of the seriousness of the Israeli occupation's plans to impose control over the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, stressing that the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip constitutes a war crime and a stain on humanity.

He added that this meeting was held to discuss a new Israeli assault on the Islamic identity of Palestinian cities, represented by the withdrawal of administrative and historical powers over the Ibrahimi Mosque from the Palestinian side.

He noted that this assault represents a series of Israeli aggressions against the Ibrahimi Mosque since the occupation of the city on June 8, 1967.

Taha emphasized that the OIC rejects and warns of the danger of the Israeli occupation's plans to impose complete control over the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, Judaize it, and alter its identity and historical landmarks.

He condemns the blatant attacks on the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the bombing of churches and mosques in Gaza City, in flagrant violation of human values and international conventions.

He noted that all these measures aimed at Judaizing the city of Jerusalem and isolating it from its Palestinian surroundings are illegitimate and invalid under international law and United Nations resolutions.

The Secretary-General also stressed that the continuation of this unprecedented humanitarian crisis constitutes a war crime, a stain on humanity as a whole, and a violation of the principles of justice and human dignity.

He called for redoubled international efforts to pressure the Israeli occupation to achieve a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire, open all crossings, allow the entry of humanitarian aid, and ensure a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

He also called for enabling the Palestinian government to assume its responsibilities in the Gaza Strip and begin the reconstruction process.

For his part, the Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Ambassador Hadi Shibli, stated that this meeting is being held amid the serious challenges posed by the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and the targeting of holy sites in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.

He explained that the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip have been living through the crime of genocide for more than 650 days, which has claimed the lives of more than 250,000 martyrs, wounded, and missing under the rubble, the majority of whom were women and children.

He said that hospitals, schools, churches, mosques, and homes have been reduced to rubble, while more than two million citizens are suffering from forced displacement from their destroyed homes in the Gaza Strip, which the Israeli occupation is trying to transform into an uninhabitable area.

He added: "What is happening in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, is no less dangerous than the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Our Palestinian people are being subjected to a systematic Israeli war targeting their existence, land, holy sites, national identity, cultural heritage, and legitimate rights.

Israel, the occupying power, has persisted in its aggression against our land, our people, and our holy sites through crimes of murder and organized terrorism, policies of annexation and colonial settlement, forced displacement, home demolitions, storming of camps, and the destruction of their infrastructure.

These are ongoing war crimes that demand investigation and accountability."

Shibli pointed out that the occupation targeted and destroyed hundreds of mosques in the Gaza Strip, turning them into rubble.

It also targeted and destroyed several churches, including the ancient Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius, the third-oldest church in the world, along with those who had sought refuge there, and the Holy Family Church of the Latin Patriarchate last week.

He called on the OIC member states to pressure Israel, the occupying power, through the international community to halt its policy of piracy and withholding Palestinian tax funds, illegally and in violation of signed agreements.

This constitutes a form of economic genocide aimed at deliberately depriving the Palestinian people of the economic conditions necessary for survival, undermining their existence and steadfastness on their land, starving them, exacerbating their humanitarian suffering, and slowly strangling their economy by undermining the Palestinian government's ability to fulfill its obligations and provide basic services.

He expressed his hope that the OIC member states would redouble their efforts and financial contributions to support the Palestinian government's budget, enabling it to continue its mission of supporting our people's steadfastness on their land.

This would be achieved by activating the Islamic financial safety net approved at successive summits and ministerial councils, in accordance with agreed-upon mechanisms.

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