Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh calls for massing support to freeze Israel’s membership in UN

CAIRO- 11 November 2024: The Riyadh-held Extraordinary Arab and Islamic Summit issued a draft resolution on the ongoing Israeli wars on Gaza and Lebanon, calling for massing the global support to freeze the Israeli membership at the United Nations and supporting the Egyptian-Qatari mediation to reach a ceasefire agreement.

The summit, which was attended by more than 50 of heads of state and government of the Arab and Islamic worlds, also supported Egypt’s efforts to reach a  national unity government between the Palestinian factions. 

Here is the fully text of the draft resolution: 

We, leaders of the states and governments of the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, gathered on the kind invitation of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, KingSalman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and under the chairmanship of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman binAbdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and based on our decision to merge the extraordinary Arab and Islamic summits that the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation had decided to organize at the request of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to discuss the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people on 11 November 2023,meet today in the city ofRiyadh in response to the escalating events, and after consultations conducted by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at therequest of the State of Palestine and some other Member States, and with the kind hosting of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;

While we affirm the centrality of the Palestinian cause and the firm support for the Palestinian people to achieve their legitimate and inalienable national rights, foremost among which is their right tofreedom and to an independent, sovereign state on the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Al-Quds as its capital, and the right of refugees to return and to compensation in accordance with the relevant resolutions of international legitimacy, particularlyResolution 194, and confront any attempts to deny or undermine these rights; reaffirming that the Palestinian cause is like all just causes of peoples struggling to get rid of occupation and obtain their rights,

While we reaffirm the full sovereignty of the State of Palestine over occupied East Al-Quds, the eternal capital of Palestine, and reject any Israeli decisions or measures aimed at Judaizing it and consolidating its colonial occupation of the city, considering such decisions and measures null, void and illegitimate under international law and relevant United Nations’resolutions, considering Al-Quds Al-Sharif a red linefor the Arab and Islamic nations, and reaffirming ourabsolute solidarity in protecting the Arab and Islamic identity of occupied East Al-Quds and in defending the sanctity of the holy Islamic and Christian sites therein,

While we affirm our absolute support for the Lebanese Republic, its security, stability, sovereignty and the safety of its citizens,

Decide:

1- To affirm the resolutions issued by the FirstExtraordinary Joint Summit in the city of Riyadh in November 2023, to renew our strong countering of the brutal Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, and to work to end its disastrous humanitarian repercussions on civilians, children, women, elderly and unarmed civilians, to continue to act, in coordination with the international community, in order to put an end to the serious Israeli violations of international law and international humanitarian law, and to Israel’s jeopardizing of regional andinternational peace and security, reaffirming theresolutions of the 33rd Arab Summit, held in theKingdom of Bahrain in May 2024, and the 15thIslamic Summit, held in the Republic of Gambia in May 2024;

2- To warn of the danger of the escalation sweepingthe region and its regional and internationalconsequences, of the expansion of the aggressionthat has lasted over one year on the Gaza Strip, and extended to include Lebanon, and of the violation of the sovereignty of the Republic of Iraq, the Syrian Arab Republic and the Islamic Republic of Iran, without the international community’s concern.

3- To insist on the implementation of all relevant resolutions issued by the United Nations’General Assembly, including Resolution No.A/RES/ES- 10/22 on the protection of civilians and adherence to legal and humanitarian obligations dated December 10, 2023, and the resolutions issued by the Security Council, and the need for the Security Council to adopt a binding resolution, under Chapter VII of the United Nations’ Charter, to compel Israel, the occupying power, to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, to allow the entry of immediate andsufficient humanitarian aid to all areas of the Strip, and to implement Security Council Resolutions 2735 (2024), 2728 (2024), 2720 (2023), and 2712 (2023), which call for taking urgent steps to immediately allow the delivery of humanitarian aid in a broad, safe and unhindered manner, and Resolution No. 2728, which calls for a ceasefire, as well as the resolutions that affirm the right of the Palestinian people toexercise their inalienable rights, including theright to self-determination, national independence and the right of refugees to return, and the resolutions that affirm the permanent responsibility of the United Nations for thePalestinian issue until it is resolved in all itsaspects; and to call on the Security Council to follow up on the international consensusexpressed in the UNGA Resolution dated May10, 2024 that the State of Palestine is qualified for full membership in the United Nations, calling to issue a resolution granting the State ofPalestine full membership in the United Nations,and to urge Member States to mobilize thenecessary support to adopt the resolution;

4- To affirm support and express appreciation for thetireless efforts made by the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Qatar in cooperation with the United States of America to achieve animmediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages and prisoners, and holding Israel responsible for the failure of these efforts as a result of the Israeli government’s withdrawal from the agreementsreached by the negotiators;

5-  To call on the international community to fully implement the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice dated July 19, 2024 towards ending the Israeli occupation, removing its effects, and paying compensation for its damages, as soon as possible;

6- To condemn the crime of enforced disappearancecommitted by the Israeli occupation forces since the beginning of the current aggression against thousands of Palestinian citizens in the Gaza Strip and throughout the occupied Palestinian territory, including children, women and the elderly, in addition to the abuse, repression, torture and degrading treatment to which they are subjected, to call on the Member States of the United Nations to work at all levels to disclose the fate of the kidnapped, to work to release them immediately, to ensure the provision of their protection, and to demand an independent and transparent investigation into this crime, including the arbitrary execution of some of the kidnapped;

7- To condemn in the strongest terms what is unveiled of the horrific and shocking crimes committed by the Israeli occupation army in the Gaza Strip in the context of the crime of genocide, including mass graves, the crime of torture, field executions, enforced disappearance, looting, and ethnic cleansing, especially in the northern Gaza Strip during the past weeks, and to call on the Security Council to form an independent and credible international investigation committee to investigate these crimes, and to take serious steps to prevent the obliteration of evidence and proof to hold the perpetrators accountable and ensure that they do not escape punishment;

8- To strongly condemn the continued and persistent Israeli aggression against Lebanon and the violation of its sovereignty and of the sanctity of its territories, to call for an immediate ceasefire, and the full implementation of UN SecurityCouncil Resolution No. 1701 (2006) in all its provisions, and to insist on solidarity with the Lebanese Republic in confronting this aggression; to strongly condemn the deliberate targeting of the Lebanese army and its centers, which led to the fall of a number of martyrs andwounded in its ranks, in addition to the killing ofcivilians,the systematic destruction of residentialareas, and the enforced disappearance of persons,as well as the targeting of the United Nations’Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL); to insist onsupporting the Lebanese constitutional institutions in exercising their authority and extending the sovereignty of the Lebanese state over all its territories, and in this regard, to insist on supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces as theguarantor of Lebanon’s unity and stability, andon the importance of expediting the election of apresident of the republic and the formation of agovernment based on the provisions of the Lebanese constitution and the implementation of the Taif Agreement;

9- To unequivocally condemn the deliberate attacks on UN Peacekeepers in Lebanon by Israel, which are direct violations of the UN Charter, and to demand the United Nations Security Council tohold Israel accountable for ensuring the safety and security of UN peacekeepers operating under the banner of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL);

10- To reject the enforced displacement of Palestiniancitizens inside or outside their land, which is a war crime and a flagrant violation of international law that we should address together;

11- To condemn the policy of collective punishment perpetrated by Israel and the use of siege and starvation as a weapon against civilians in the Gaza Strip, to call on the international community to take immediate practical steps to end the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the aggression, including forcing Israel tocompletely withdraw from the Gaza Strip and to open all crossings between it and the Strip, and lifting all restrictions and obstacles to safe, rapidand unconditional humanitarian access to theStrip, in implementation of its obligations as the occupying power, and in the same context, to callfor the immediate withdrawal of the Israelioccupation forces from the Rafah crossing and the Salaheddine Corridor (Philadelphi corridor), and for the Palestinian National Authority to return to manage the Rafah crossing, and toresume work on the 2005 Movement and Access Agreement, in a manner that allows the regularwork of relief organizations and the resumption of the flow of aid in a safe and effective manner;

12- To insist on the need to join efforts to implement the outcomes of the Emergency Humanitarian Response Conference in Gaza, hosted by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, jointly organized with the Arab Republic of Egypt and the United Nations on June 11, 2024, and to mobilize the necessary support for the humanitarian conference that Cairo will host on December 2, 2024, in the context of efforts to provide adequate humanitarian support to the Strip;

13- To call on the international community to take effective action to compel Israel to adhere to international law, denouncing the double standards in the application of international law,international humanitarian law, and the United Nations’ Charter, and warning that this double standard seriously undermines the credibility of the states that immunize Israel and place it above accountability along with the credibility of multilateral action, and exposes the selectivity of the application of the system of human values;

14- To welcome resolution A/RES/ES-10/24 issued by the General Assembly on September 18, 2024,which adopted the outcomes of the legaladvisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the illegality of the Israeli occupation;

15- To call on all states of the world, their legislative bodies, and all international institutions and organizations to abide by the resolutions of international legitimacy regarding the city of Al-Quds and its legal and historical status, as an integral part of the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967;

16- To strongly condemn the aggressive Israelimeasures targeting Islamic and Christian holy sites in the city of Al-Quds and changing itsArab, Islamic and Christian identity, to call on the international community to pressure Israel to stop them, and warn against the continuation of attacks on the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, including undermining the freedom of worship in the mosque, preventingworshipers from entering it, besides itsdesecration, storming, profanation and vandalismof its contents by groups of Israeli settlers, and the attempts aimed at changing the legal and historical status quo in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, dividing it temporally and spatially; andto stress that the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al- Haram Al-Sharif, with its entire area of 144 thousand square meters, is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims, and that the Al-Quds Endowments and Al-Aqsa Mosque AffairsAdministration, affiliated with the Jordanian Ministry of Endowments, is the exclusive legitimate authority with jurisdiction to manage the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, to maintain it and regulate entry to it, within the framework of the historical Hashemite guardianship over the Islamic and Christian holy sites in occupied Al-Quds;

17- To call on the Security Council to adopt a resolution obligating Israel to stop these illegalpolicies that threaten security and peace in theregion, and to implement the relevant United Nations resolutions regarding the Holy City ofAl-Quds Al-Sharif, and to condemn any party’s recognition of Al- Quds as the alleged capital ofIsrael, the occupying power, as an illegal and irresponsible measure that constitutes an attackon the historical, legal and national rights of thePalestinian people and the Islamic nation; toconsider any step aimed at changing the legalstatus of the Holy City of Al-Quds Al- Sharif as an illegal step and a serious violation of international law and relevant United Nationsresolutions that must be immediately revokedand reversed, to call on any state that has taken steps that affect the existing legal and historical status in the City of Al-Quds to reverse these illegal steps, and to stress the need to work toestablish the inhabitants of Al-Quds on their land, including through supporting theAl-Quds Committee and its executive arm, the Bayt Mal Al-Quds Al-Sharif Agency;

18- To start working to mobilize international support to suspend Israel’s participation in the United Nations General Assembly and all its affiliated entities, in preparation for submitting a jointdraft resolution to the General Assembly – the tenth special session (Uniting for Peace), on the basis of its violations of the United NationsCharter, its threat to international peace andsecurity, and its failure to fulfill its membershipin the United Nations and based on the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice on July 19, 2024.

19- To call on all countries to ban the export or transfer of weapons and ammunition to Israel;urging countries to join the initiative proposed bythe Republic of Turkey and the core groupconsisting of (18) countries, which was signedby (52) countries, the Organization of IslamicCooperation and the League of Arab States, and to send a joint letter to the UN Security Council,the President of the UN General Assembly andthe UN Secretary- General to halt the provisionof arms to Israel, and to invite all countries to sign it.

20- To urge the International Criminal Court to expeditiously issue arrest warrants against Israeli civilian and military officials for committing crimes - falling within the jurisdiction of theCourt - against the Palestinian people;

21- To call on the Security Council and theinternational community to take the necessary decisions, including imposing sanctions, in order to stop the escalating illegal Israeli measures in the occupied West Bank that undermine the two-state solution and undermine all chances of achieving a just and comprehensive peace in theregion, to criminalize such policies, to condemncolonial policies pursued by the occupyingpower to annex any part of the occupied Palestinian territory by force with the aim of expanding illegal settler colonialism, and to consider this a blatant and systematic attack onthe historical and legal rights of the Palestinianpeople and a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter, the principles of international law, and relevant United Nations resolutions;

22- To strongly condemn the terrorist acts committedby Israeli settlers against Palestinian citizens andtheir property, which are escalating in anorganized manner with the support and armament of the Israeli occupation government and the protection of its forces, and to call for:

- Holding settlers accountable for the crimes they are committing against the Palestinian people and their property.

- Classifying Israeli settlers and Jewish settlermovements as terrorist groups  and organizations,  including  them  on  national and international terrorism lists, and working, at all levels, including in the United Nations, and specifically the Security Council, to hold Israeli leaders and settlers accountable for the crimes they commit.

- Boycotting products of Israeli settlements on the occupied Palestinian territory, and the companies operating therein and included in the database issued by the Human Rights’ Council on 6/30/2023, and forming Lists of Shame that include the names of thosecompanies considering that they feed theoccupation and seek to perpetuate it.

- Calling on all states of the world, including Member States, to prevent settlers present in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Al-Quds, from entering them for any purpose that may be, and establishing special mechanisms and measures to examineidentification documents to verify theirplaces of residence in cooperation with the State of Palestine, considering that as they participate in terrorist hostilities against thePalestinian people, their property and their lands.

- Calling on the General Secretariat of theLeague of Arab States and the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, in cooperation with the State of Palestine, to prepare a list of the names of these groups and circulate it to Member States;

23- To call on the active international parties to launch a plan with specific steps and timing underinternational sponsorship to end the occupationand establish an independent, sovereignPalestinian state on the lines of June 4, 1967,with occupied Al-Quds as its capital, based onthe two-state solution, and in accordance with the approved references and the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002.

24- To stress that a just and comprehensive peace inthe region that guarantees security and stability for all its states cannot be achieved without ending the Israeli occupation of all occupiedArab territories up to the June 4, 1967 line, in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative in all its components.

25- To commend the states that recognized the State of Palestine, calling on other states to follow suit, welcoming the “International Alliance to Implement the Two-State Solution,” launched by the Joint Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee, headed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in coordination with Arab and Islamic states, and in cooperation with the European Union and the Kingdom of Norway in September 2024 in New York City, holding its first meeting in Riyadh,stressing the importance of supporting it, and calling on all peace-loving states to join this alliance;

26- To work to mobilize international support for theState of Palestine to join the United Nations as a full member and support the appreciated and continuous efforts made by the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, in its capacity as a member of the two organizations, in the Security Council, to submit a draft resolution toaccept this membership, in addition to its efforts to support the cause and unity of the Palestinian ranks.

27- To condemn the actions and statements of extremist hatred and racism by ministers in the Israeli occupation government, and to demand from the international community to hold them accountable in accordance with the international law;

28- To condemn the continuous attacks by the Israeli occupation authorities and their representativeson the United Nations and its Secretary-General, as well as condemning the ban on the work of international mechanisms and organizations including UNSR and COIs, and on members of the Office of the High Commissioner (for Human Rights) preventing from entering the territory of the State of Palestine, and its termination of the work of the InternationalPresence Mission in Al-Khalil, in clear violation of its obligations, as an occupying power, and of the relevant United Nations resolutions, and demanding that the international community assume its responsibilities in providing protection as stipulated in the United Nationsresolutions, and in accordance with what wasproposed by the report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in this regard;

29- To condemn the continued adoption and approvalby the Israeli Knesset of racist and illegal laws, including the so-called law withdrawing the immunity granted to employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), preventing it from working in the occupied Palestinian territories and severing relations with it, and the decision to reject the establishment of a Palestinian state; stressing that these laws and decisions are null, void and illegal, and calling on the Member States of the United Nations to impose sanctions on Israel, the occupying power,in order to force it to comply with the international law andinternational legitimacy resolutions, and callingon all states to provide effective political and financial support to the agency.

30- To call for providing all forms of political and diplomatic support and international protection to the Palestinian people and to the State of Palestine,forachieving Palestinian national unity, and for its effective assumption of itsresponsibilities over all the occupied Palestinianterritory, including the Gaza Strip, unifying itwith the West Bank, including the city of Al-Quds, as well as supporting the State of Palestine economically by supporting its effortsin humanitarian relief programs, economicrecovery, and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, stressing the importance of continuing to support the budget of the State of Palestine, activating a transparent financial safety net according toagreed upon mechanisms, and requesting the international community to oblige the Israeli occupation authority to release the withheldPalestinian tax revenues immediately and in full;

31- To support the ongoing efforts made by the Arab Republic of Egypt to achieve Palestinian unity atthis critical stage, and enabling the Palestinian government to carry out its responsibilities and duties towards the Palestinian people, including through forming various mechanisms and agencies and agreeing on a community supportcommittee to be formed by a decree issued by the President of the State of Palestine, within the framework of the political and geographical unity of the Palestinian land on the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Al-Quds as its capital and the sovereignty of the State of Palestine over it, and reaffirming that the Palestine Liberation Organization is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

32- to call for continued provision of assistance and urgent humanitarian and relief support to theLebanese government to confront therepercussions of the Israeli aggression, includingconfronting the crisis of the displaced until they can return to their regions and securing the elements of a decent life for them, with the necessity of implementing reforms that allow sisterly and friendly states of Lebanon to participate in supporting its economy to help the Lebanese people get out of the living crisis they are facing.

33- To strongly condemn the escalating brutal Israeli aggression on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic, including targeting civilians, destroying civilian buildings and infrastructure, and violating its sovereignty, which constitutes crimes and serious violations of international lawand relevant United Nations resolutions, and tostress the need to end the Israeli occupation of the occupied Syrian Arab Golan;

34- To assign the Joint Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee, headed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and formed in accordance with the decision issued by the First Joint Arab-Islamic Summit on November 11, 2023, to continue its work, to intensify its efforts, and expand them to include working on ending the aggression onLebanon; the Committee shall submit periodic reports, which the two secretariats shall circulate to the Member States.

35- To mandate the Ministerial Committee to furtherengage other actors of the Global South in the efforts to strengthen international support towards ending the war and Israeli occupation.

36- To stress the need to protect navigation in sea lanes in line with the rules of international law,

37- To welcome the signing of the tripartite mechanism to support the Palestinian cause bythe League of Arab States, the Organization ofIslamic Cooperation, and the African Union in Riyadh, and commend the African Union’s firm positions towards the Palestinian cause;

38- To assign the Secretaries-General of the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to coordinate follow-up on the implementation of what is stated in the present resolution and the submission of periodic reports to the leaders in this regard.