OIC envoys condemn Israeli aggression, seek EU intervention for ceasefire in Gaza

Diplomats call for holding Israel accountable for its war crimes and crimes against humanity

BRUSSELS:

The ambassadors of the OIC member states in Brussels called upon the European Union on Monday to exert all necessary efforts to achieve an immediate and complete ceasefire, putting an end to Israeli aggression in Gaza.

In a joint press conference, the ambassadors emphasised the EU’s role in ending impunity and holding Israel accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the barbaric aggression during its more than 16-year illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The presser was held in response to Israel’s continuing aggression against the Palestinian people, particularly in the Gaza Strip.

Reiterating the call made by the OIC Extraordinary Executive Committee Meeting of Foreign Ministers on October 18, 2023, for an immediate cessation of this illegal and inhumane Israeli aggression, the envoys also requested international protection for the Palestinian people.

They stressed the need for the EU’s efforts to open humanitarian corridors, allowing the rapid, safe, and uninterrupted delivery of all necessary supplies—food, water, fuel, medicine, and other life-saving necessities—to reach the civilian population in Gaza without any further delay.

The ambassadors informed the media that Israel’s relentless day and night bombing in the Occupied Palestinian Territory had resulted in the death of approximately 10,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and had injured more than 26,000 citizens.

Refuting any justification for targeting innocent civilians, the OIC ambassadors rejected such actions under any pretext.

They reiterated the call issued at the end of the 10th Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly to end the inhumane Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and the OIC group’s statement during the Special Session, underscoring the urgent need for a ceasefire.

Read also: OIC condemns Israeli war crimes

The ambassadors of the OIC member states underlined the urgency to provide immediate, safe, and sustained delivery of humanitarian aid, particularly food, water, fuel, electricity, medical needs, and non-food emergency items to the Gaza Strip, including through UN institutions, especially the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

They categorically rejected any attempt to violently and forcibly displace the Palestinian population, the majority of whom are already refugees, from the Gaza Strip or to transfer the crisis created by the Israeli occupation to neighbouring countries.

The OIC ambassadors condemned the comments of Israeli ministers calling for the nuclear bombing of the Gaza Strip. They viewed these comments as an extension of a terrorist racist ideology that warrants international condemnation and effective measures to stop the military aggression carried out by the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian people.

The OIC countries’ envoys stressed the need to provide international protection for the Palestinian people in conformity with international humanitarian laws, as 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. They called for the dispatch of an international protection force to protect innocent lives from ongoing attacks by the occupation forces and extremist colonialist settlers.

Ambassadors of the OIC Member States hold a joint press conference in Brussels, Belgium, November 13, 2023. PHOTO: APP

They called on the European Union institutions, including the Council, the Commission, the European External Action Service, and the European Parliament, as well as EU member states, to urgently engage in concerted efforts to halt Israel’s barbaric military assaults on Palestinian civilians and put an end to the ethnic cleansing undertaken by Israel against the Palestinian people in its occupied territories.

The ambassadors reaffirmed their support for the Palestinian people's inalienable legitimate rights to self-determination, sovereignty, and the independence of the State of Palestine based on the 1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif (East Jerusalem) as its capital, in accordance with relevant UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.

Ambassador of Pakistan in Brussels, Amna Baloch, reiterated in her remarks at the press conference the call for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Gaza, emphasizing that Pakistan firmly stood with the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination.