JEDDAH, Wednesday, May 8, 2024 (WAFA) – The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) today condemned the escalating Israeli aggression against the blockaded Gaza Strip.

OIC decried expanding the ongoing genocidal Israeli offensive against the war-torn coastal enclave by launching an invasion on the city of Rafah, which is now home to approximately 1.3 million Palestinians.

It considered invading Rafah as constituting a continuation of the crime of genocide against and an attempt to displace the Palestinian people in Gaza in a flagrant violation of all United Nations resolutions and all provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

It decried Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s threats to proceed with and expand the aggression on the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah with or without a ceasefire deal, which affirms his rejection of UN resolutions and efforts to reach a ceasefire.

The 57-state member organization warned of the risk of invading Rafah, which portends a humanitarian catastrophe and may lead to widening the conflict and instability in the region.

It renewed its call to the international community to take on its responsibilities in terms of obliging Israel to halt its military aggression and crimes across the occupied Palestinian territories and providing international protection to the Palestinian people.

K.F.