ISTANBUL: The Muslim leaders, who gathered here for a special summit on recent Gaza killings, have called for an international force to be deployed to protect Palestinian people against Israeli crimes.In a final communiqué issued following an emergency meeting here on Friday, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned the May 14 massacre of dozens of Gazans as “savage crimes committed by the Israeli forces with the backing of the US administration.”It also urged the UN to “form an international investigation committee into the recent atrocities in the Gaza Strip, and enable the committee to initiate field investigation.”The OIC further demanded “international protection of Palestinian population, including through dispatching of international protection force” in the face of “unchecked crimes” committed by Israel.Israeli occupation forces killed at least 62 Palestinians during protests near the Gaza fence on the eve of 70th anniversary of Nakba Day (the Day of Catastrophe), which coincided this year with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem al-Quds.More than 2,700 Palestinians were also wounded as the Israeli forces used snipers, airstrikes, tank fire and tear gas to target the demonstrators.In an address to the OIC summit, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah underlined the necessity to provide international protection for his countrymen.“We stress the need for immediate action to help provide international protection for the Palestinian people, who have been suffering for a century from a barbaric and oppressive aggression at the hands of Israeli occupation authorities,” he said.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for sending “an international peace force to the people of Palestine, who are losing their young children to Israeli terror every day.”Kuwait circulated among the UN Security Council member states a draft resolution calling for the dispatch of an “international protection mission” to shield Palestinian civilians.The Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) also convened on Friday, demanding an “independent, international commission of inquiry” into the Gaza killings and denouncing “the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force” by Israeli forces against Palestinians.The OIC General Secretariat was requested to act immediately to establish an international independent Committee of Experts to investigate the crimes and massacre committed by the Israeli forces against the peaceful and unarmed demonstrators in the Gaza Strip.It also called for determining the culpability of Israeli officials and communicating the findings to relevant international bodies.The OIC called upon the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the UN Secretary General, UN Human Rights Council, the special rapporteurs and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to take necessary actions to form an international investigation committee into the recent atrocities in the Gaza Strip, and enable it to initiate field investigation, within a precise time-frame, and ensuring enacting a clear mechanism to determine the culpability of the Israeli officials.The communiqué also called on the UN Security Council, the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council to uphold their responsibilities in this regard and invite all countries to mobilise their efforts to bring this issue to their agenda.It invited all countries to officially recognize the State of Palestine. The OIC also reiterated its rejection of the illegal decision of US President Trump to recognize Al-Quds as the so-called capital of Israel.It also appreciated the role of the state of Kuwait as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and its immediate reaction to the bloody events in Gaza and its request to the Security Council for an emergency meeting.It also commended the resolutions on the cause of Palestine and al-Quds Al-Sharif, the capital of the State of Palestine, adopted by the 45th Session of Council of foreign ministers on 5-6 May in Dhaka.
05-20-2018, 04:04 PM
OIC calls for international force to protect Palestinians
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