“Israeli Aggression As A Retaliatory War Crime Cannot Be Justified Under Any Guise”: OIC Statement On Riyadh Joint Summit

Amid reports that Saudi Arabia, its neighboring country, the United Arab Emirates, and seven other nations blocked a proposal to sever all ties with Israel, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), one of the organizers of the joint extraordinary Arab and Islamic Summit held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, released a statement today. Although the statement does not explicitly address the allegations regarding the actions of the nine countries, it presents a strongly-worded document that elaborates on the plans of the Arab League and the OIC. These plans include various measures to halt the ongoing conflict, an international peace conference, political, legal, and humanitarian initiatives, such as ending the Gaza blockade. Additionally, the document proposes the establishment of two specialized legal monitoring units to document all crimes committed by the occupying authorities in the Gaza Strip since October 7.

The press release details the resolutions adopted by the summit and said the two organizations in the resolution adopted by the joint summit underscored the centrality of the Palestinian cause and their support with all their capabilities for the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people to liberate all their occupied territories and the need to end the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and to separate Gaza from the West Bank, including Al Quds Al Sharif.

The resolution, according to the press release, affirmed that Israel and all the states in the region will never enjoy security and peace unless Palestinians enjoy them and reclaim all their usurped rights.

The resolution has also called for convening an international peace conference, as soon as possible, noting that a just, durable, and comprehensive peace is the only way to achieve that on the basis of international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative as basic terms of reference and renewed adherence to all its provisions and priorities.

The resolution also demanded political, legal, and humanitarian steps, including breaking the siege on Gaza, ensuring the entry of Arab, Islamic, and international humanitarian aid convoys, and supporting Egypt’s efforts to deliver aid to the Strip in an immediate, sustainable, and sufficient manner.

The joint summit called on international organizations to participate in this process and on the Security Council to adopt a resolution to condemn the destruction, displacement, and prevention of basic services and needs, to ensure immediate cessation of Israeli military escalation, lift the Israeli illegal siege, ensure delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and compel the colonial occupation to abide by international law.

It also described the ongoing Israeli aggression as a retaliatory war crime that cannot be justified under any guise.

The resolution also included the activation of the Arab and Islamic Financial Safety Net to provide assistance and financial, economic, and humanitarian support to the Government of the State of Palestine and to UNRWA, and emphasized the need to mobilize international partners to reconstruct Gaza and mitigate the effects of the massive destruction caused by the Israeli aggression as soon as it stops.

The resolution mandated the two General Secretariats of the OIC and the League of Arab States to establish two specialized legal monitoring units to document all the crimes of the occupation authorities in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023 and to prepare evidence on the Israeli violations.

It affirmed its support for the legal and political initiatives of the State of Palestine at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the Human Rights Council (HRC). It also requested the prosecutor of the ICC to continue its investigation into the war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people.

The resolution mandated the Foreign Ministers of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as Chair of the Arab Summit (32), and the Islamic Summit and of Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Turkiye, Indonesia, Nigeria, Palestine, and any other interested country and the secretary generals of the two organizations to start immediate international action on behalf of all member states of the Organization and the League to initiate an international action to stop the war on Gaza.

The resolutions also demanded that all countries stop exporting weapons and ammunitions to the occupation authorities that are used by their army and terrorist settlers to kill the Palestinian people and destroy their homes, hospitals, schools, mosques, churches, and all their properties.

The resolution also condemned the military aggression against the Gaza Strip and the war crimes and barbaric, brutal, and inhuman massacres committed by the colonial occupation government and the military operations against Palestinian cities and camps, the settlers’ terrorism, and Israeli attacks on Islamic and Christian holy places in Al-Quds and the illegal Israeli measures that violate freedom of worship.