The Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit has condemned Israel’s military offensive in Gaza as war crimes and barbaric killings of Palestinians.
A statement issued Sunday by media aide to Minister of Information and National Orientation, Rabiu Ibrahim, disclosed that the summit also called for a convening of an international peace conference through which a realistic peace process would be launched.
A communiqué from the Summit attended by world leaders of states and governments of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the League of the Arab States, including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, called for an immediate halt to all Israeli military operations in Gaza.
It said the Summit demanded for a decisive and binding resolution by the United Nations Security Council that will impose a cessation of aggression and put an end to Israeli occupation practices that violate international law, international humanitarian law, and international legitimacy resolutions.
According to the statement, the Summit charged the UN Security Council to “adopt an immediate resolution condemning Israel’s barbaric destruction of hospitals in the Gaza Strip, the prevention of the entry of medicine, food and fuel into it, and the cutting off of electricity, water supply and basic services, including communication and internet services, being a collective punishment that constitutes a war crime under international law.”
The Summit condemned the killings of journalists, children, and women, as well as the targeting of paramedics, and urged the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to investigate Israel’s intentional use of banned chemical weapons on the civilian population in Gaza.
It also called for an end to the siege on Gaza, allowing humanitarian aid into the enclave and halting arms exports to Israel, following the meeting in Riyadh.
The Summit said: “We reaffirm all resolutions of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League regarding the Palestinian cause and all occupied Arab territories.
“We recall all resolutions of the United Nations and other international organizations regarding the Palestinian cause, the crimes of the Israeli occupation and the right of the Palestinian people to freedom and independence in all its territories, which have been occupied since 1967 and constitute a sole geographical unit. We welcome the UN General Assembly Resolution A/ES-10/L.25 adopted by the tenth emergency session on 26 October 2023.
“We affirm the centrality of the Palestinian cause and our standing with all our powers and capabilities by the brotherly Palestinian people in their legitimate struggle to liberate all their occupied territories and to meet all their inalienable rights. This particularly includes their right to self-determination and to live in their independent and sovereign state on the borders of June 4th, 1967 with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
“We reaffirm that a just, lasting and comprehensive peace, which is a strategic option, is the only way to establish security and stability for all peoples of the region and protect them from cycles of violence and wars. This, we stress, will not be achieved without ending the Israeli occupation and resolving the Palestinian cause on the basis of the two-state solution.
“We affirm that it is impossible to achieve regional peace while overlooking the Palestinian cause or attempting to ignore the rights of the Palestinian people. We stress that the Arab Peace Initiative, backed by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, is an essential reference to this end.
“We hold Israel, the occupying force, responsible for the continuation and aggravation of the conflict, which is the result of its violation of the rights of the Palestinian people, and of the Islamic and Christian sanctities. This is also the result of its systematic aggressive policies and practices, its illegal unilateral steps that perpetuate the occupation, violate international law, and prevent the realization of a just and comprehensive peace.
“Originally, only the 22 members of the Arab League were expected to participate, but the meeting was later expanded to include the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a wider association of 57 mostly Muslim-majority states to which the Arab League countries belong.”
Saudi Crown Prince remarks
In the opening remarks, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) called for an immediate cessation of military operations in Gaza and the release of all captives and prisoners.
“This is a humanitarian catastrophe that has proved the failure of the international community and the UN Security Council to put an end to Israel’s gross violations of international humanitarian laws, and prove the dual standards adopted by the world,” he said.
“We are certain the only cause for peace is the end of the Israeli occupation and illegal settlements, and restoration of the established rights of the Palestinian people and the establishment of the state on 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” MBS added.
Turkish President Recep Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Israel was taking revenge on Gazan babies, children and women, as he renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire.
“What is urgent in Gaza is not pauses for a few hours, rather we need a permanent ceasefire,” he added. “We cannot put Hamas resisters defending their homeland in the same category as the occupiers.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas highlighted that besides Gaza, Israeli forces’ raids in the occupied West Bank have also escalated and called on the United States to put an end to “Israel’s aggression, the occupation, violation and desecration of our holy sites”.
“No military and security solutions are acceptable as they have all failed. We categorically reject any efforts to displace our people from Gaza or the West Bank,” Abbas added.
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani questioned for how long the international community will treat Israel as if it is above international law.
“The international world remains immune in front of all these scenes. Who could have imagined that hospitals could be publicly shelled in the 21st century?” he asked.
