Islamabad:
Saudi Arabia on Monday convened an emergency summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss the escalating military situation in Gaza, an official statement from the 57-member bloc’s headquarters in Jeddah said.
The extraordinary Summit will take place on November 12, as leaders of Islamic countries are expected to participate.
The Iranian president has already confirmed his participation while no decision has yet been taken by Pakistan on who will go to the summit.
But it is certain that either the president or the prime minister would go, given the importance Pakistan attaches to the Palestinian cause.
The official statement said the summit to be held in Riyadh would discuss the “brutal attack against the Palestinian people”.
Read more: Thousands protest in Islamabad over Gaza
The leaders of Islamic countries will gather after more than a month since Israeli forces launched a brutal attack on the people of Gaza following the unprecedented operation by Hamas.
The number of people killed in the Israeli military attack exceeded 10,000 with almost half of them being children.
The Israel Defense Forces dropped 30,000 tons of munitions on the Gaza Strip in one month, surpassing even the US, which dropped 15,000 tons of munitions on Japan in World War II.
The OIC executive committee earlier held an emergency meeting in Saudi Arabia on October 18 in response to the escalating military situation in Gaza.
The meeting was jointly chaired by Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
It was decided to convene the council of foreign ministers to discuss practical measures to stop the genocide in Gaza.
However, the situation has since deteriorated further, forcing the OIC to convene the summit.
The executive committee met after its emergency session last month issued a joint communique accusing Israel of committing “war crimes”.
He also strongly criticized the UN Security Council for failing to prevent humanitarian catastrophe, but more importantly opened a broadside against Israel’s supporters for their “double standards” and held them responsible for encouraging the Jewish state to commit atrocities with impunity. .
He urged the international community to act quickly and hold the Israeli occupation accountable for these heinous war crimes against the Palestinian people and humanity at large, and called for immediate intervention to stop the carnage.
“Israel, the occupying power, bears full responsibility for the fate of the civilians in the Gaza Strip and the real tragedy they are subjected to under shelling, siege and starvation, without electricity, food or clean water, while being forced to leave and for the policy of indiscriminate collective punishment that it implements in flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law, as well as its legal responsibilities as an occupying power under the Geneva Conventions,” the joint statement said.
He stressed the importance of preserving the lives of all civilians and not targeting them in any way inconsistent with international law and international humanitarian law, as well as divine laws.
Read more: OIC condemns Israeli war crimes
The OIC categorically rejected calls for the displacement of the population of the Gaza Strip and reaffirmed its support for the stability of the Palestinian people in their land. underlined the importance of the international community to play its role in preventing any attempt to forcefully displace the Palestinian population from their land, transfer the crisis to neighboring countries and exacerbate the Palestinian refugee issue.
The OIC also wanted to stop the military escalation, lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip and urgently facilitating the entry of aid and humanitarian aid for civilians.
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