DNA

ISLAMABAD, MAY 16 – Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, today. They discussed bilateral relations and important regional developments.

The Foreign Minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire for a broad-based and comprehensive partnership with the United States that was anchored in close economic cooperation, enhanced regional connectivity and common vision for a peaceful South Asia.

Foreign Minister Qureshi highlighted the salience of transformed Pakistan (Naya Pakistan), with its shifting focus on geo-economics. He underscored that this vision rested on three central pillars of peace, development partnerships, and connectivity.

Foreign Minister Qureshi reaffirmed Pakistan’s steadfast support for the Afghan peace process while underscoring that achieving peaceful political solution in Afghanistan was the shared responsibility of all Afghan parties as well as the key international and regional stakeholders. Underscoring the importance of responsible withdrawal, the Foreign Minister stressed that reduction in violence, permanent ceasefire, and seizing this historic opportunity to secure an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement was indispensible.

The Foreign Minister highlighted Pakistan’s immense sacrifices in the fight against terrorism and the progress made in strengthening the anti-terrorist financing and anti-money laundering regimes. He reaffirmed the resolve to continue efforts in this regard.

The Foreign Minister apprised Secretary Blinken of Pakistani people’s deep concern and anguish on the worsening humanitarian situation in the Israeli Occupied Palestinian Territories and underscored the importance of U.S. role in ensuring necessary steps to help address the dire situation, restore peace, and facilitate a just solution.

Foreign Minister Qureshi and Secretary Blinken agreed to stay in touch and work together on advancing the two countries’ shared bilateral and regional interests.

ISLAMABAD – A league of Muslim nations on Sunday demanded that Israel halt attacks killing Palestinian civilians amid heavy fighting between it and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, even as fissures between countries over their recognition of Israel emerged.

A statement by the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) hewed closely to previous ones issued by the Saudi-based group, including backing the decades-old call for Palestinians to have their own nation with East Jerusalem as its capital.

It called for an immediate halt to what it described as Israel’s barbaric attacks on Gaza and blamed “systematic crimes” against the Palestinians for hostilities now in their seventh day. The OIC statement came after a virtual meeting in which Saudi Arabia condemned the violation of the sanctity of Muslim holy sites and evictions of Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud opened the OIC meeting by urging the global community to end the escalation in violence and revive peace negotiations based on a two-state solution.

The 57-member body accused the United Nations Security Council of inertia. Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei issued a separate statement on Sunday, tweeted by Malaysia’s premier, calling for an emergency UN General Assembly meeting.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates called for a ceasefire. “De-escalation and the highest degree of restraint are important to avoid dragging the region to new levels of instability,” said UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem al-Hashimy.

However, recent normalisation deals between Israel and some nations in the group — as well as their own concerns about Hamas — saw diplomats at points instead criticise each other.

“The massacre of Palestinian children today follows the purported normalisation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said. “This criminal and genocidal regime has once again proven that friendly gestures only aggravate its atrocities.”

The past week has seen some of the worst violence across Israel and the Palestinian territory since the 2014 war in Gaza, with militants launching missiles and Israel pounding the blockaded coastal strip home to two million people with heavy fire. At least 188 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza with 1,230 people wounded. Eight people in Israel have been killed.

The OIC statement called on Israel to respect Muslims’ access to Al Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam, as well as stop settlers from forcibly evicting Palestinian families from their homes.

“The plight of the Palestinian people is the bleeding wound of the Islamic world today,” Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar said.

But the video conference meeting saw some delegates instead turn their fire toward countries like Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates, Muslim nations which reached normalisation deals last year to recognise Israel. While Egypt and Jordan earlier reached peace deals, supporters of the Palestinians criticised the new countries for recognising Israel before the formation of an independent Palestinian state.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu joined Zarif in criticising the normalisation, though Israel maintains diplomatic ties with Ankara.

“There are a few who have lost their moral compass and voiced support for Israel,” he said. “If there are half-hearted statements within our own family, how could we criticise others? Who will take our words seriously?”

FM Cavusoglu also called for an international protection mechanism for Palestinian civilians and told the OIC that Israel should be held accountable for war crimes and that the International Criminal Court could play a role.

Zarif accused Israel of “genocide and crimes against humanity”.

“Make no mistake: Israel only understand the language of resistance and the people of Palestine are fully entitled to their right to defend themselves,” Zarif said.

Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007, didn’t take part in the meeting, which came before consultations at the United Nations over the crisis.

Across the Arabian Peninsula, reactions to the fighting similarly have been mixed. In Qatar, home to the Al Jazeera satellite network, hundreds turned out late on Saturday night to listen to a speech by Hamas’ top leader Ismail Haniyeh. Kuwait’s parliament speaker reportedly spoke with Haniyeh on Saturday, as did Qatar’s foreign minister.

Meanwhile, in Bahrain and the UAE, government-linked media hasn’t been covering the current flare-up of violence nonstop like other networks in the region.

There are murmurs of dissent though. In Bahrain, civil society groups signed a letter urging the kingdom to expel the Israeli ambassador. In the UAE, where political parties and protests are illegal, Palestinians have expressed their anger quietly, worried about losing their residency permit. Some Emiratis have also expressed concerns.

“The region’s only democracy,” tweeted the Emirati writer and political analyst Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi in writing about Israel’s strike on a Gaza building that housed the offices of The Associated Press and Al Jazeera.

ISLAMABAD, MAY 16 – Pakistan’s foreign minister said Sunday that Israeli aggression in Palestine was “intolerable” and his country will raise its voice against it at every forum.

“The international community should immediately swing into action and stop the use of force by Israel,” said Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the foreign minister, after a virtual meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

“Ceasefire is our priority,” he added.

On Sunday, Israeli strikes killed 33 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The heaviest fighting since 2014, sparked by unrest in Jerusalem, saw the rivals again trade heavy fire, with the death toll rising to 181 in the crowded coastal enclave of Gaza since Monday and at 10 in Israel, according to authorities on either side.

Israeli should not be given immunity for “crimes against humanity” and breaking “international laws”, said Qureshi.

He added that he spoke with his Palestinian counterpart and other foreign ministers over the phone on Saturday and will talk to the US secretary of state tonight to discuss the situation.

He also condemned the destruction of media offices in Palestine in Israel missile strikes and said “the targeting of media houses is an attempt to silence the voices”.

Mr. President

Allow me to thank China for convening this important meeting and for being represented at Ministerial level, as well as Tunisia for their relentless efforts within this Council, and my Arab brothers who decided to participate in this meeting as an integral part of their efforts to end the aggression against our people, land and holy sites. Allow me also to thank the Secretary General for his participation and ongoing efforts, together with Special Coordinator Tor Wennesland, to end this latest aggression against our people.

Mr. President,

There are no words that can describe the horrors our people are enduring. Baby Omar Al Hadidi came to life only 5 months ago and will now have to go through life without his mother and brothers Osama 6,Abdelrahman 8, Suheib 14, all killed by an Israeli airstrike. His family is not the only one. Members of the family Abu Hattab were killed, including Alaa 5, Bilal 10, Youssef 11, and the family Al Tanani, Rawya was 4-months pregnant, she was killed together with her husband and sons Ismael 6, Ameer 5, Adham 4, Mohammed 3. A few hours ago, 15 members of the family Al-Qolak were killed, including Zeid 8, Adam 3 and Qossai 1 and their parents. Aziz survived, he is 10.

When you embrace your children and grandchildren tonight, think of our children and of how you can honour those killed and spare those still alive.Think of what it feels to see your world crumbling down and not being able to protect them. Think of what it means to sleep not knowing which one of you will wake up. Remember that each time Israel hears a foreign leader speak of its right to defend itself, it is further emboldened to continuemurdering entire families in their sleep.

Israel is killing Palestinians in Gaza, one family at a time. Israel is trying to uproot Palestinians from Jerusalem,expelling families, one home, one neighbourhood at a time. Israel is persecuting our people, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Some may not want to use these words, but they know they are true. Israel is unapologetic and relentless in pursuing its colonial policies. We are therefore left with two questions.

The first one is: What are the Palestinian people entitled to do to resist such policies and defend themselves. The following questions hold the answer: Is violence when committed by Palestinians terrorism and when committed by Israelself-defense? Who will be arrested, the settlers or those resisting their presence and assaults? Will our peaceful protesters enjoy international protection or be left to face Israeli bullets and slander? Will we receive support for investigations by the ICC, or will some search for reasons to object, shielding war criminals and depriving Palestinian victims from any avenue for justice? Will products of Israeli settlements be banned, or will those who call for boycott be prosecuted? What are we entitled to do apart from hoping that one day Israel will be ready to end its occupation on its own and to negotiate peace?

The second question is:What are the tools the international community is ready to deploy to ensure compliance by Israel with its obligations and an end of its occupation, tools it uses regularly in other conflicts. Military intervention? Sanctions? Suspending bilateral relations? Prosecuting perpetrators of crimes? Deploying protection forces? Imposing an arms embargo? Or will it rely simply on the possibility of convincing the occupying Power to end its colonial occupation while history has proven that Israel is not willing to listen?

Mr. President,

Israel keeps doing the same things expecting a different result. Did it believe that its troops storming the holiest of sites, Al Aqsa Mosque, on the holiest of months, Ramadan, and on the holiest of nights, the night of destiny, would bear no consequences? Did it believe Palestinians would accept to live in enclaves andwait for the Israeli settlers to seize the next house? Did they expect Palestinians to coexist with the occupation, its walls, its blockades, its settlements and its prisons? There is no people on earth that would tolerate this reality.

Israel keeps telling you“put yourself in our shoes?” But Israel is not wearing shoes, it is wearing military boots. It is an occupying and a colonial power. Any assessment of the situation that fails to take into account this fundamental fact is biased, discredited and unjust. We are not two neighbours living side by side in peace. Israel is the armed thief who has entered our house and is terrorizing our family. It destroys our homes, oppresses our people, generation after generation, decade after decade, and then claims a right to security that it denies us.

Why don’t you put yourself in our shoes. What would you do if your country was occupied, your people persecuted, besieged, massacred? Better yet, what did you do to achieve your independence and end the oppression of your people? We made a difficult choice to pursue a peaceful path to freedom, and it is in everybody’s interest for that path to be successful. But that will not happen without ensuring that Israel bears the cost of occupation instead of reaping its benefits.

Mr. President,

How many Palestinian civilians killed is enough for a condemnation? We know a single Israeli is, but how many Palestinians? 200 Palestinians have been killed, a third of them children and women. What is the threshold for outrage? An entire family wiped out of existence is not enough? Dozens of families killed is not enough? Residential buildings brought to the ground and tens of thousands of Palestinians displaced for the fourth or fifth time is not enough?  All this in the midst of a pandemic.

Israel is not only an occupying Power, it is a nuclear power, it has a military arsenal, the iron dome, shelters, while our people in Gaza are besieged, trapped, with nowhere to go and no safe haven. Even the UNRWA schools within which they shelter are vulnerable to Israeli attacks. It is Palestinian civilians who need protection.They deserve compassion, solidarity and action.

The Palestinian people have risen everywhere, because they are victims everywhere. Victims of dispossession, forced displacement, discrimination and denial of rights on both sides of the Green Line and in exile. When hearing Israeli officials speak one could wonder how horrible it must be for them to live under our occupation, with our forces deployed in their streets and our settlers terrorizing their people and taking over their land and homes, and with millions of them underblocakde. As many colonial powers before it, Israel holds its victims responsible for their own death. Israel is the victim forced to kill the Palestinians because they do not behave. If only Palestinians could coexist with their occupiers and oppressors in peace.

Some wonder why Palestine enjoys so much solidarity and support from so many nations around the world, and the reason is that these nations are informed by their own history, their own struggle for freedom, and they know oppression when they see it. The countries who sit in these United Nations would be dishonoring the memory of those who fought for freedom in their respective countries if they were to acceptcolonialism and Apartheid in Palestine.

Mr. President,

Where are theythose who proclaimed they had achieved peace in the Middle East by brokering agreements between countries who were actually not at war? Where are they those who proclaimed that peace in the Middle East could be achieved without the Palestinians and at their expense? Where are they those real estate agents who decided they could sell what they do not own to those who have no rightful claim. We told them then and we say now, Jerusalem is not for sale. Our roots are deep, our history long, our heritage etched in every stone, street and alley in this City.  War and peace start from Jerusalem. You want to save peace, start by saving Sheikh Jarrah. Protect Al Haram Al Sharif from attempts to divide it temporally and spatially. Israel continues proclaiming that Jerusalem is the unified capital of Israel. Have you ever seen the city more divided?

The international consensus you have all helped shape and defend is being destroyed in front of our very eyes. The alternative that Israel chose is Apartheid. Yes Apartheid.And one day soon, even this Council will not be able to deny this reality. Act now to end the aggression and the assault on our people, our homes, our land. Act now so freedom can prevail, not Apartheid.

Mr. President,

As the Palestinian people mark the 73^rd anniversary of the Nakba, Israel pursues the same policies of dispossession, forced displacement, discrimination and denial of Palestinian rights.

Israel may believe it is winning, but it is no where closer to defeating the Palestinian people. Our people will never surrender or forgo their rights. Palestinian freedom is the only path to peace.  Since peace is the responsibility of this Council, helping achieve Palestinian freedom is its legal and moral duty. Thank you

BEIJING — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called on the U.N. Security Council to seek an early de-escalation of violence between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers. He also blamed the U.S. for the council’s lack of action so far.

“Regrettably, the council has so far failed to reach an agreement, with the United States standing on the opposite side of international justice,” the state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted Wang as saying in a phone conversation Saturday with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

He expressed support for a two-state solution, and said China, which holds the Security Council presidency this month, expects all parties to speak with a unified voice when the council discusses the conflict later Sunday.

Wang said the Security Council should reconfirm a two-state solution and urge Palestinians and Israelis to resume talks on that basis as soon as possible.

WASHINGTON, MAY 16 – The US told Israel that the security of journalists and independent media is a “paramount responsibility” after Israeli warplanes hit the offices of media groups in Gaza City on Saturday.

“We have communicated directly to the Israelis that ensuring the safety and security of journalists and independent media is a paramount responsibility,” said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Twitter.

On Saturday, Israeli warplanes destroyed a building in Gaza with offices of various media groups, including Al Jazeera and the Associated Press.

“We are shocked and horrified that the Israeli military would target and destroy the building housing AP’s bureau and other news organizations in Gaza,” Associated Press CEO and President Gary Pruitt said in a statement.

An Anadolu Agency correspondent reported that several Israeli missiles hit the Al-Jala Tower.

The 13-story building, one of Gaza’s oldest multi-story buildings, had a total of 60 units, including offices of media companies, legal firms, and doctors.

Al Jazeera also condemned Israel’s attack, and called on international community to protect journalists.

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JEDDAH (DNA) – The virtual open-ended extraordinary meeting of the OIC Executive Committee at the level of foreign minister held on Sunday 4 Shawwal 1442AH, corresponding to 16th May 2021, upon the request of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Chair of the Islamic Summit, to discuss the aggression by Israel, the occupying Power in the Palestinian territories, particularly, Al-Quds Al-Shareef.

Proceeding from the principles and objectives of the charter of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation,

Pursuant to the resolutions adopted by the ordinary and extraordinary sessions of the Islamic Summit and the Council of Foreign Ministers,

Recalling all relevant United Nations resolutions, including resolutions No. 242 (1967); 252 (1968); 338 (1973); 465, 476, 478 (1980); 1073 (1996), and 2334 (2016), and the conferences of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) and its additional protocols, on applicability of the provisions of the Convention to the land of the State of Palestine and the protection of civilians in times of war,

Driven by the historical, moral and legal responsibility of the Islamic ummah towards the cause of Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Shareef,

Having reviewed the latest developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, in particular the escalating aggression by the occupation forces and the extremist Israeli settlers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Shareef, the forced eviction of Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem, the killing and maiming of civilians, the growing barbaric attack on the Gaza Strip, giving free rein to all means of lethal military aggression against defenceless Palestinian civilians, which has killed and injured hundreds and caused widespread destruction of civilian properties and extensive suffering, constituting direct threat to international peace and security,

• Condemns in the strongest terms the barbaric attacks launched by Israel, the occupying authority, against the Palestinian people and their land and holy sites; demands complete and immediate stop of these attacks that have affected innocent civilians and their properties, in gross violation of international law and United Nations resolutions on the question of Palestine; and warns that the continuation of and incitement to these attacks and provocations, the threat on the lives of innocent civilians, causing severe suffering to them increase the risks of instability, with serious implications for security in and outside of the region;
• Warns, in particular, against the dangerous effects of Israel’s continued and deliberate inflammation and provocation of the religious sensibilities and feelings of the Palestinian people and the entire Islamic ummah with its heightened attacks on worshippers, especially starting from the beginning of Ramadan, blocking worshippers’ access to the holy sites to perform their religious rites, including Muslims’ access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Christians’ access to the Church of Holy Sepulchre during the Easter celebrations, violent storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Shareef by the occupation forces, terrorising and attacking peaceful worshippers, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law;
• Demands a stop to all violations being carried out by Israel, the occupying authority, including disrespect for the holy sites, in particular, the sacredness of the Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Shareef, and not to undermine their historical and legal status; reiterates that Israel is an occupation force and does not possess any legitimate right whatsoever on occupied Palestinian land, including East Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Shareef, and that all measures undermining its status are null and void and of no legal effect;
• Reaffirms the importance of the historical Hashemite custodianship of the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Al-Quds and its role in preserving them and the existing legal and historical status there, and in preserving the Arab, Islamic and Christian identity of the sanctuaries; and affirms that the Hashemite management of Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa Mosque waqfs is the only body authorized to manage all affairs of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Al-Quds Haram Al-Shareef;
• Reiterates its rejection and condemnation of the ongoing Israeli settlement colonisation of occupied Palestinian land, including East Jerusalem and the establishment of racial segregation system there, in particular through the building of settlements, destruction of Palestinian properties and building of an expansion wall, confiscation of lands, homes and properties, forceful expulsion and eviction of Palestinians from their homes and land; and affirms that all these acts constitute gross violation of international law, attaining the level of war crimes and crimes against humanity for which the occupation must be held accountable and the colonial system boycotted and sanctioned;
• Expresses particular concern at the rapid pace of the Israeli policy of colonisation of Palestinian lands, especially the threat to forcefully evict hundreds of Palestinian families from their homes in the occupied East Jerusalem, including families in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighbourhoods which face imminent evictions from extremist colonialist groups with the support and backing of the Israeli occupation authorities, in cooperation with the racial courts; demands immediate cessation of those illegal policies and practices that are at variance with the occupation’s obligations under the United Nations Charter, the Fourth Geneva Convention, international human rights law and United Nations resolutions, including Security Council resolution 2334 (2016); and calls for these illegal measures to be challenged at all levels and for urgent international measures to be taken to confront them;
• Holds Israel, the occupying authority, fully responsible for the deterioration of the situation caused by its systematic crimes against the Palestinian people across the entire Occupied Palestinian Territory, in particular, the extensive barbaric military attack on the besieged Gaza Strip, with rising number of victims and large scale destruction of properties and basic infrastructure; calls for the importance of protecting medical and first-aid crews and of allowing them to do their work without hindrance, in line with the provisions of international law in this regard; and stresses the need to provide international protection for the Palestinian people, in conformity with international humanitarian law standards as has been repeatedly advocated by the United Nations General Assembly, including in resolution ES-10/20 of 13 June 2018 and in line with the Final Communique of the 7th Extraordinary Islamic Summit, by dispatching an international protection force to save innocent lives from ongoing attacks and terrorism by the occupation forces and the extremist colonialist militias;
• Underscores the responsibility of the Security Council to act swiftly to end the Israeli occupation’s barbaric attacks on the Palestinian people, in line with its Charter mandate to preserve international peace and security; expresses its denouncement of the Security Council’s inertia in dealing with the Palestinian question, the oldest on its agenda; and invites it to assume its responsibility towards the Palestinian people and to respond to the calls of states and peoples around the world to rise to its responsibilities to stop these violations, save innocent lives, act without delay to stop the deterioration on the ground and the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people, implement its own resolutions and ensure that they are fully respected, being the foundation and key to a just and lasting solution supported by the prevailing international consensus;
• Reiterates that failure of the Security Council to assume its responsibility to deal with this crisis will necessitate approaching the United Nations General Assembly to assume its responsibility, including resumption of the proceedings of the Tenth Emergency Special Session to stop Israeli aggression in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Al-Quds Al-Shareef, to ensure provision of international protection for the Palestinian people, to take measures to hold Israel, the occupying power, accountable for its crimes and gross violations of the rules of international law and human rights, and to blockade its colonial system;
• Calls upon the international community as a whole, including the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, to abide by its collective commitments and take measures and steps to compel Israel, the occupying authority, to fulfil its obligation as occupying authority, including ensuring protection for the Palestinian population; and affirms that the time has come to take serious measures to hold Israel accountable for its gross violations and to stop exempting it from the same rule that are binding on the rest of the world;
• Reiterates its readiness for engagement in all efforts to support the just Palestinian cause and guarantee the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination and subsequent just and comprehensive solution on the basis of the two-state solution, in accordance with the internationally agreed principles on the basis of relevant United Nations resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative leading to the establishment of the independent State of Palestine with Al-Quds Al-Shareef as its capital, and to continue to work with the international community to achieve that end;
• Notes that the extensive Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people coincides with the 73rd anniversary of the catastrophe, the 1948 tragedy during which widespread ethnic cleansing operation was conducted leading to the forceful removal of 800,000 from their homes and land, after the barbaric massacre carried out in more than 400 Palestinian towns and images by Zionist terrorist groups in Palestine; recalls the historical responsibility of the British mandate authority for the catastrophe and the permanent responsibility of the United Nations for the Palestinian question until all its aspects are resolved; and reiterates on this painful anniversary the right of the Palestinians to return as a fundamental collective and individual right, in conformity with international law and United Nations resolutions, in particular resolution 194 (III), which cannot be diminished with the passage of time, and that respecting it is essential for a just and lasting solution;
• Reiterates that Al-Quds Al-Shareef and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s first qibla and third holiest sanctuary, is a red line for the Islamic ummah, that only with its full liberation from occupation and its return to the Palestinian people and the Islamic ummah will there be security and stability; invites Member States to make concerted and individual efforts, to rally round and defend Al-Quds and its holy sites, face up to Israel’s crimes, provide the Palestinian people with support and the wherewithal for steadfastness to confront the Israeli barbaric attacks; and requests them to respect the OIC resolutions on the Palestinian cause and work to implement them as the central issue of the Islamic ummah and the raison d’etre of the OIC;
• Appreciates the role played by the Chair of the Al-Quds Committee in protecting the sanctuaries in Al-Quds Al-Shareef and standing up to the measures taken by the Israeli occupation authorities to Judaize the holy city;
• Salutes the steadfastness of the Palestinian people on their land and for their historic stand in the face of aggression and occupation, and epic defence of their legitimate rights, standing up to the obliteration, eviction and revocation attempts by the Israeli racist, colonial regime; and reiterates its support and backing for the Palestinian leadership;
• Invites Member States to provide all forms of support and backing for the Palestinian people to strengthen their resilience on their land and to stress the importance of activating the financial safety network, in accordance with the resolution of the 14th Islamic Summit, particularly for the reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure, properties and homes sheltering hundreds of Palestinian families who have been rendered homeless because of the heavy destruction carried out by the Israeli occupation forces;
• Calls for international legal action through specialized international courts and various United Nations agencies to compel Israel, the occupying power, to pay the necessary material and moral reparations for the damages done to the Palestinian infrastructure as well as public and private properties;
• Decides to move urgently and carry out the necessary contacts to implement this resolution and convey its contents to all relevant bodies, to mandate the Secretary General to contact the President of the European Commission, the United Nations Secretary General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and other representatives of relevant international organizations and groups to convey the contents of this resolution, and to invite the councils of ambassadors of the OIC group in countries of the world and at international organizations to act urgently to convey the contents of this resolution to the states and organizations of their accreditation.

DNA

GAZA CITY: At least 33 Palestinians, including eight children, were killed Sunday in Israeli air strikes on Gaza, in the worst daily toll since bombardment started almost a week ago, local authorities said.

The health ministry in the blockaded coastal enclave said a total of 181 Palestinians, including 52 children, have perished in the strikes since Israel began pounding the Gaza Strip Monday after Palestinians fired rockets towards the Jewish state.