Recommendations of extraordinary summit on Palestine

CAIRO – 19 May 2018: The seventh extraordinary session of the Islamic Summit Conference, which was held in Istanbul to support Palestinians amid the escalating violence by Israeli forces and the illegal inauguration of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, concluded on Friday, coming out with a number of resolutions and recommendations.

The member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned the criminal actions of Israeli forces against the Palestinian people in the occupied territory, particularly in the Gaza Strip, where unarmed Palestinian civilians are practicing their legitimate right of peaceful protest against this “inhumane and absolutely illegal” occupation. Moreover, it held Israel, the occupying power, fully accountable for the grave atrocities in the occupied Palestinian territory.

They declared that these acts constitute savage crimes committed by the Israeli forces with the backing of the U.S. administration, including through shielding the Israeli occupation from accountability in the U.N. Security Council.

They called for the international protection of the Palestinian population, including through dispatching international protection forces. Also, they called on the international community, in particular the U.N. Security Council, to uphold its legal obligations to defend international law and order as they relate to Palestine.

Furthermore, they called upon the U.N. Security Council, the U.N. General Assembly, the U.N. Secretary General, the U.N. Human Rights Council, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and special reporters to take necessary actions to form an international committee to investigate the recent cruelties in the Gaza Strip. Also, they called on them to uphold their responsibilities in this regard and invited all countries to mobilize their efforts to urgently bring this issue to the agenda of the U.N. General Assembly, the U.N. Security Council and the Human Rights Council.

OIC member states shall openly condemn the illegal inauguration of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem and pursue all available legal and diplomatic avenues to defend Palestinian national rights from all hostile and illegal actions from the United States or any other party, and to support decisions adopted recently by the Palestinian leadership to advance the Palestinian rights.

Among the recommendations, they insisted on the OIC member states to be responsive to OIC resolutions on the Palestinian cause and to commit to voting for our common cause, and to taking actions that would contribute to defending this just cause, and call for necessary action to be taken against those failing to comply.

Moreover, they demanded that the United States adhere to the international legitimacy resolutions of Jerusalem, which represents an integral part of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, and they called to urge Israel, the occupying power, to stop its colonial plans and serious violations that constitute a threat to peace and security in the region and the entire world.

The member states and the wider international community are called to ban the products of illegal Israeli settlements from entering their markets.

The summit was presented by Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who gave a short speech about Egypt’s stance towards the case and its continuing efforts to achieve peace in Palestine.

On Thursday, Shoukry said that the continuation of the Israeli occupation of Palestine is the root of the crisis and the reason for the suffering and tragedies of Palestinians.

“Time has come to turn this dark page of the region’s history, and to meet the Palestinians’ hopes and aspirations to live in peace,” Shoukry said during his speech at the opening session of the extraordinary meeting of Arab foreign ministers.

Shoukry assured that the U.S.’s decision to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is null and void, affirming that Jerusalem will remain the capital of Palestine.

On May 15, Palestine called for an extraordinary meeting of Arab foreign ministers to discuss the accelerating events and violence that have been taking place in Gaza for several days.

Several countries have condemned Israeli violence against Palestinians, including Egypt, which has been struggling to bring peace to Palestine through a political solution.

U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov also called on the international community to support Egypt's stance and aid Palestine not only to survive these escalations, but to reach a political solution that guarantees peace and stability for the Palestinian people.

“This cycle of violence in Gaza needs to end. For it to end, we need each one of us to prevent an explosion that will drag everyone in the region into another deadly confrontation. The international community must step in and prevent war; we need to move forward quickly and effectively on all projects that we have been discussing for months and months to solve the energy, water and health crises of the population. We can only do this in coordination with Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt. But before all that, the senseless violence needs to stop,” Mladenov said during his briefing to the Security Council on the situation in Gaza on May 15.

Furthermore, UK’s Minister of State for the Middle East Alistair Burt condemned violence in Gaza and the West Bank, calling it "shocking".

“The loss of life and the large number of injured Palestinians is tragic, and it is extremely worrying that the number of those killed continues to rise,” his statement read.