Jeddah-(Syed Mussarat Khalil)
OIC Holds Extraordinary Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) to discuss ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people
The Extraordinary Meeting of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) to discuss Israel’s continued aggression against the Palestinian people was held at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah, today. The meeting was convened against the backdrop of relentless Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians, its planned ground invasion of Rafah, and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The extraordinary meeting was attended by Foreign Ministers of OIC Member States. The OIC Secretary General also addressed the session.
Ambassador Syed Mohammad Fawad Sher, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the OIC, delivered Pakistan’s national statement. In his statement, the Ambassador reiterated Pakistan’s strong condemnation of the incessant Israeli atrocities against the people of Palestine and stressed the need for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza. He also underlined the need for an unimpeded supply of humanitarian assistance.
Ambassador Fawad Sher emphasized that the OIC owed its genesis to the Palestine issue and appreciated the OIC Member states for projecting the voice of the Palestinians.
He called upon the OIC to undertake the following steps: form an OIC ‘Core Group’ to make renewed efforts to stop the war; immediately create a humanitarian fund for Gaza; push for the admission of the state of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations; urge the UN Secretary-General to establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigate Israeli war crimes;
make efforts toward holding an international conference to accelerate the realization of the two-state solution; in compliance of the resolution of the Arab-Islamic Summit of November 2023, place an embargo on the supply of weapons and ammunition to Israel; demand the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and halt all illegal settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territories and within the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound;
create conditions of dialogue between Palestine and Israel through the OIC Core Group; urge all the donors that have suspended their donations to UNRWA to reverse their decision and call on all others to enhance their contributions to UNRWA; call for the complete implementation of the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice and the deployment of an impartial international mechanism for the protection of Palestinian civilians. He also called for the implementation of the provisions of the resolution of the Joint Arab-Islamic Summit of November 2023.
He also reaffirmed Pakistan’s longstanding unequivocal position that the final solution to the Palestine problem was in the creation of a viable, contiguous, and sovereign state of Palestine based on the pre-1967 borders and with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
The Extraordinary session adopted a Resolution at its culmination that denounced the brazen Israeli aggression and indiscriminate use of force against the Palestinians.
The resolution made several demands including inter alia an immediate cessation of hostilities, the lifting of the siege of Gaza, the sustainable supply of humanitarian aid, the holding of an international peace conference to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, continued funding of UNRWA, full recognition of the state of Palestine at the UN and taking steps for the realization of the two-state solution.
