JEDDAH: The Organization of the Islamic Conference, the world’s largest Muslim grouping, has appealed to its members to review their ties with Israel over a deadly assault on a Gaza aid convoy.
The OIC "calls on the member states to reconsider their relations with Israel, including reconsideration of normalization of such relations," it said late Sunday after a meeting in the Saudi city of Jeddah, where it is based.
Several of the pan-Islamic group’s 57 member countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, and various others from Africa and Central Asia, have diplomatic relations with Israel.
Israeli commandos raided on a convoy of ships carrying aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip before dawn on May 31, killing nine pro-Palestinian activists with Turkish citizenship.
The OIC "condemns in the strongest possible terms the brutal aggression by the Israeli forces against civilian ships transporting humanitarian aid material to the Gaza Strip in international waters," it said in a statement.
It called on "the United Nations Secretary General to establish an independent international commission to launch a full investigation into the incident, which it termed "an act of state terrorism."
Sunday’s meeting of the OIC executive committee, which was attended by Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu, was held to discuss the Israeli assault.
In its statement, the OIC demanded Israel provide compensation for those killed and wounded in the raid.
It also called for "an immediate lifting of (the) unlawful Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and the opening of all Israeli-controlled crossing points" into the impoverished coastal enclave.
The statement came after the Islamist Hamas movement that runs Gaza told reporters that Arab League chief Amr Mousa would visit the Palestinian territory "in the coming days."
Israel has maintained a blockade of Gaza since 2007, when Hamas took power by force there after having won Palestinian elections. Egypt has also usually kept its Rafah crossing with Gaza shut.
Israeli naval forces intercepted another aid ship, the Rachel Corrie, on Saturday as it tried to reach the Gaza Strip. It said on Monday that all the activists on board that ship have been deported.
