Newspaper Front pages for October 19th,2023

JEDDAH-The Executive Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in its extraordinary open-ended meeting held October 18th, 2023 in Jeddah at the level of foreign ministers upon the joint invitation of Saudi Arabia,

Chair of the current session of the Islamic Summit and Chair of the Executive Committee, and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, to discuss the ongoing Israeli military aggression against the Palestinian people called for the immediate cessation of the barbaric Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

“In light of the blatant and unprecedented Israeli aggression in the occupied Palestinian territory and the heinous massacres perpetrated against civilians in Gaza Strip by the Israeli occupation forces, which led to hundreds of innocent civilian casualties,

"Thousands of injuries, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands through the demolition of their homes,” the meeting called in its final communique “for the immediate cessation of the barbaric aggression of the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian people and the immediate lifting of the siege imposed to the Gaza Strip.”

“Its strong condemnation of the unprecedented aggression against civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip and the entire occupied Palestinian territory by killing, bombing, deliberately destroying infrastructure, threatening to commit atrocities and to exterminate them,

"as well as the absolute rejection of targeting civilians under any pretext or displacing them from their homes, or starving and depriving them of safe access to humanitarian aid in contravention of all international norms and laws, and of the most basic humanitarian principles and values.”

The meeting also called “upon all countries to quickly provide humanitarian, medical and relief aid, water and electricity, and to open humanitarian corridors immediately in order to safely deliver urgent aid to the Gaza Strip, including through the United Nations institutions particularly the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and support its efforts in this regard.”

It warned of “the danger of continuing the policy of deliberate targeting of civilians and collective punishment accompanied by policies of starvation, water deprivation, and the stopping of the only power generation station in Gaza Strip suspended due to the prevention of fuel access, portending a real disaster for all health and humanitarian services, in contravention of international humanitarian law and amounting to the commission of international crimes, including the crime against humanity.”

The OIC strongly condemned “the blatant targeting by Israel's brutal occupation forces of Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza Strip, which killed and injured hundreds of innocent sick, injured and displaced innocent civilians, which represents a war crime, extermination and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, ethics and international and humanitarian instruments,

Calls upon the international community to act swiftly and to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for these heinous war crimes against the Palestinian people and humanity as at large, and calls for immediate intervention to halt this massacre.”

“Israel, the occupying power, bears full responsibility for the fate of civilians in the Gaza Strip and the real tragedy they are subjected to under bombardment, siege, and starvation, without electricity, food, or clean water, while being forced to abandon their homes,

"and for the policy of indiscriminate collective punishment that it applies in a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law, as well as its legal responsibilities as the occupying power in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.”

It stressed, “the importance of preserving the lives of all civilians, and not targeting them in any way being inconsistent with international law and international humanitarian law, as well as divine laws.”

The meeting also rejected “categorically calls to displace the population of Gaza Strip and affirms its support for the steadfastness of the Palestinian people on their land;

Stresses the importance for the international community to play its role in preventing any attempt of forced displacement of the Palestinian population from their land, transferring the crisis to the neighboring countries and exacerbating issue of Palestinian refugees whom right to compensation and return must be met within the framework of a comprehensive solution to the conflict that addresses the final status issues in conformity with the pertinent UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative;

Stopping the military escalation, lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip, and contributing urgently to the entry of relief and humanitarian aid for civilians.” (WAFA)