Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 18/10/2023
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The Executive Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, in its extraordinary open-ended meeting held at the level of foreign ministers on Wednesday, 3 Rabi’ al-Thani 1445, corresponding to 18 October 2023, upon the joint invitation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Chair of the current session of the Islamic Summit and Chair of the Executive Committee, and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, to discuss the ongoing Israeli military aggression against the Palestinian people,
Recalling the principles and objectives contained in the Charter of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation,
Emphasizing all resolutions issued by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation regarding the issue of Palestine and the City of Al-Quds Al-Sharif,
Reaffirming its emphasis on the centrality of the Palestinian issue for the entire Islamic Ummah; Supporting the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, most notably their right to self-determination and the return of Palestinian refugees, their right to independence, and the embodiment of the independent and sovereign State of Palestine on the borders of June 4th, 1967, with its capital, Al-Quds Al-Sharif, As well as his legitimate right to self-defense to confront the Israeli aggression that targets their lives, their sanctities, and their properties.
In light of the blatant and unprecedented Israeli aggression in the occupied Palestinian territory and the heinous massacres perpetrated against civilians in Gaza Strip by the Israeli occupation forces, which led to hundreds of innocent civilian casualties, thousands of injuries, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands through the demolition of their homes,
1. Calls for the immediate cessation of the barbaric aggression of the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian people and the immediate lifting of the siege imposed to the Gaza Strip; Reaffirms its strong condemnation of the unprecedented aggression against civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip and the entire occupied Palestinian territory by killing, bombing, deliberately destroying infrastructure, threatening to commit atrocities and to exterminate them, as well as the absolute rejection of targeting civilians under any pretext or displacing them from their homes, or starving and depriving them of safe access to humanitarian aid in contravention of all international norms and laws, and of the most basic humanitarian principles and values;
2. Calls 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) and support its efforts in this regard; Warns 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 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.
3. Strongly condemns the blatant targeting by Israel's brutal occupation forces of Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in 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, ethics and international and humanitarian instruments, Calls upon the international community to act swiftly and to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for these heinous war crimes against the Palestinian people and humanity as at large, and calls for immediate intervention to halt this massacre;
4. Israel, 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;
5. Stresses the importance of preserving the lives of all civilians, and not targeting them in any way being inconsistent with international law and international humanitarian law, as well as divine laws.
6. Rejects categorically calls to displace the population of Gaza Strip and affirms its support for the steadfastness of the Palestinian people on their land; Stresses 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 neighboring countries and exacerbating issue of Palestinian refugees whom right to compensation and return must be met 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;
7. Expresses 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 Gaza Strip and all Palestinian territory, which negatively affect the Security Council's role in maintaining international peace and security and protecting unarmed civilians;
8. Calls upon the United Nations and the UN Security Council to assume its responsibilities, to take all urgent measures to ensure an end to the brutal and barbaric aggression against the Palestinian people, particularly in the Gaza Strip and the entire Palestinian territory, to allow the entry of humanitarian aid, to provide protection for defenseless Palestinian civilians, and to stop the escalating humanitarian catastrophe carried out by the forces of the illegal Israeli occupation;
9. Warns of the escalation of attacks by the Israeli occupation army and settler terrorism weaponed and protected by the occupation forces in Al-Quds Al-Sharif and the West Bank in their continuing aggression against the civilian population and their properties, including killing, destroying, displacing, building and expanding settlements, within the framework of its brutal colonial campaign aimed at annexing the occupied Palestinian territory and affirms the importance of preserving sanctity of holy sites in Al-Quds, and the full protection of Al-Aqsa Mosque as well as the prevention of the violation of the status and sanctity of sacred places in Al-Quds;
10. Stresses 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 endeavors, to halt the heinous crimes, including the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people; National Authority those perpetrated by the Israeli occupation authorities;
11. Deplores 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;
12. Reaffirms 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;
13. Calls upon international actors to engage in sponsoring a serious political path to achieve peace based on ending the illegal Israeli occupation that had begun in 1967 and implementing the two-state solution, within a clear time frame, as stipulated in the rules of international law and United Nations resolutions, and referring to the Peace process and the Arab Peace Initiative;
14. Calls upon the missions of the member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in the capitals and international organizations to take immediate action to convey the OIC’s position to the capitals of the countries and organizations to which they are accredited and to work with the necessary speed up their endeavours towards condemning and stopping the aggression, and ensuring the provision of the necessary humanitarian supplies to the Palestinian people;
15. Calls on Member states to apply all feasible and effective diplomatic, legal and deterrent measures, to stop the occupying power Israel's crimes against humanity.
16. Calls for an Extraordinary CFM meeting at the GS Headquarters to discuss the ongoing crimes of Israel against the Palestinian people.
17. Request the Secretary-General to identify the possible set of effective and concrete measures as soon as possible and present it to the next Extraordinary CFM meeting.
18. Stresses the need to provide international protection for the Palestinian people, in conformity with international humanitarian law standards as has been repeatedly advocated by the United Nations General Assembly, including in resolution ES-10/20 of 13 June 2018 and in line with the Final Communique of the 7th Extraordinary Islamic Summit, by dispatching an international protection force to protect innocent lives from ongoing attacks by the occupation forces and the extremist colonialist settlers ;
19. Assigns the Secretary General of the Organization to communicate with the five permanent members of the Security Council / the Secretary-General of the United Nations / the High Commissioner for Human Rights / the President of the European Union, and to continue coordination with regional and international organizations, including the League of Arab States, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the African Union and the Non-Aligned Movement in order to take the necessary steps aiming to compel Israel to stop all its violations, attacks and crimes and to work to provide international protection for the Palestinian people;
20. Mandates the Secretary-General to follow up on the implementation of the present final communiqué and to report thereon to the next meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers.
