JEDDAH: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned the racist remarks of the extremist Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in which he asserted that he issued directives to impose sovereignty on the West Bank.
The OIC in a statement on Tuesday emphasised that the Israeli occupation and its policies of aggression, displacement, settlement, destruction, annexation and ethnic cleansing are illegal and invalid under international law.
The organisation also warned of the seriousness of the continuous incitement and organised terrorism carried out by Israeli occupation leaders and extremist settlers against the people of Palestine.
The OIC called upon the global community to recognise the State of Palestine and support its full membership in the United Nations.
It further stressed decisive action to end Israel’s illegal occupation and settlements in Palestinian territories, in line with the two-state solution, international law, the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the illegality of the Israeli occupation, and relevant UN General Assembly resolutions.
It is pertinent to mention that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday said that 2025 will be the year Israel applies sovereignty over the occupied West Bank, thus ending chances of a Palestinian state, Turkish news outlet TRT World reported.
According to the Gaza health ministry Israel’s war in Gaza, now in its 403rd day has killed at least 43,665 Palestinians and injured over 103,076.
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The UN on Tuesday warned that already low levels of aid trickling into Gaza had dwindled further, with the situation in the besieged north especially catastrophic.
Meanwhile, Israel said it was opening an additional aid crossing into Gaza on the eve of a US-imposed deadline to improve humanitarian conditions in the war-ravaged territory, AFP reported.
On July 19, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) reiterated Palestinians’ right to self-determination, observing that Israeli settlements on occupied land must be dismantled.
In an advisory opinion regarding the consequences of Israeli occupation in Palestinian territories, the court ruled that the occupied Palestinian territories form a single territorial unit to be protected and respected.
