The summit of Muslim heads of state called on Friday for creating a peacekeeping force to protect the Palestinian people, following the last Israeli aggression against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The summit which was held in Istanbul, Turkey, called also for taking measures for preventing any country from relocating its capital to Jerusalem.
Last week, the Israeli forces killed dozens of Palestinians across the borders of Gaza with Israel, while hundreds were wounded as the Israeli forces fired Palestinians with live ammunition, as they were protesting against the US move to relocate its embassy in Jerusalem. The inauguration of the US embassy was held on Monday.
The final statement of the extraordinary summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) denounced the “brutal crimes of the occupation which is supported by the US administration.” The statement called on the United Nations’ Security Council to open an investigation into the Israeli violence against Palestinians.
The summit was attended by several Muslim leaders including the host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and King of Jordan Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein who is also the regent of the Muslim sites in Jerusalem, while the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas deployed his prime minister Rami Hamdallah to the summit. Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry represented Egypt in the summit.
During his speech, Shoukry called for a definitive stand against the Israeli policy against the unarmed Palestinians, and to prevent repeating the “tragedy” that we have witnessed during the past few days by opening an investigation into the incident.
Shoukry added, “this is the second extraordinary summit in less than six months to discuss the situation in Palestine as the tragedy of the Palestinian people is on the rise.” He also stressed the necessity of putting the international community on its responsibilities in protecting the Palestinian people and keeping the statues of Jerusalem as a final situation issue.
The Turkish president said that Israel should be held accountable for the killings, adding that taking an action for Palestinians “massacred by Israeli bandits is to show the whole world that humanity is not dead.” He also described Israel’s killing of Palestinians as “thuggery, atrocity, and state terror.”
The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for cutting ties with Israel and taking economic and political measures against the US and Israel.
For his part, Hamdallah accused the US of becoming a part of the problem and not the solution. He also described the US embassy move as an act of aggression against the Islamic nation, and against Muslims and Christians.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian authorities announced keeping the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip open during the whole month of Ramadan in order to provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.
