CAIRO, July 2, 2025 (WAFA) The Arab League, the African Union, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation affirmed today their absolute rejection and condemnation of the Israeli occupation's use of starvation and siege as tools of war against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.
In an urgent humanitarian appeal after the second consultative meeting of the three organizations, held at the headquarters of the Arab League General Secretariat, the three organizations expressed their deep concern over the deteriorating, serious, and unprecedented humanitarian suffering in the Gaza Strip, affirming that this suffering is a result of the ongoing crimes of genocide, starvation, comprehensive siege, forced displacement, and systematic destruction committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people since October 2023, in blatant violation of international humanitarian law, relevant UN resolutions, and orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The appeal called for the immediate and permanent opening of all land and sea crossings and for sufficient, sustainable, and unhindered access to humanitarian aid, including food, potable water, fuel, medicines, medical supplies, and shelter centers.
It warned of the repercussions of this situation, which could render the Gaza Strip uninhabitable and lead to the spread of famine and malnutrition.
The three organizations stressed that relief for the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is a fundamental, non-negotiable humanitarian right, expressing their rejection of the mechanism for distributing humanitarian aid, which has turned into field execution sites where starving civilians and humanitarian workers are targeted and directly killed while waiting.
They affirmed that this mechanism constitutes a systematic threat to life and reinforces the use of food and humanitarian aid as weapons of war and tools to impose military control and demographic change, condemning the systematic and comprehensive destruction of civilian infrastructure and life in the Gaza Strip, including hospitals, schools, universities, aid distribution teams, UNRWA warehouses, safe shelters, water and sanitation networks, power generation stations, and the deliberate targeting of patients, wounded, medical and humanitarian teams, and journalists.
They stressed this policy deprives the population of the most basic means of survival and makes the mission of relief organizations impossible, emphasizing the necessity of enabling UNRWA to exercise its vital role under these exceptional circumstances in the Gaza Strip, especially given the seriousness of UNRWA's current financial situation.
The three organizations called on the international community to exert effective and continuous pressure on Israel, the occupying power, to allow UNRWA and its UN and local partners to operate freely, safely, and without hindrance, rejecting any attempt to undermine UNRWA's role or transfer its essential tasks to any other party, and called for providing political, financial, and legal support to this UN agency and preserving its existing mandate under relevant UN resolutions.
They warned of the danger of the continued illegal policies of the Israeli occupation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, through colonial settlement, arbitrary detention, annexation, and the imposition of alleged Israeli sovereignty over it, as well as the storming of cities, villages, and refugee camps, the destruction of homes and infrastructure, the displacement of their residents, and attempts to change the historical and legal status quo of holy sites, especially the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The three organizations called for the immediate and unconditional compliance with the orders of the ICJ and relevant UN resolutions, especially regarding the prevention of acts of genocide, the flow of essential humanitarian aid, and the implementation of UN General Assembly resolutions and UN Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 2735, which calls for a permanent humanitarian ceasefire, the opening of crossings, and ensuring unimpeded entry of aid.
The humanitarian appeal stressed the inevitability of achieving justice and accountability and called on the international community to take all legal and diplomatic measures to ensure the end of impunity, demanding the urgent formation of an independent and impartial international investigation committee to investigate all grave violations of international law committed in the Gaza Strip, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of genocide, and to determine individual and collective responsibilities.
It called for providing international protection for civilians, including humanitarian and medical workers and journalists, as well as women, children, and the elderly who bear the brunt of this war and constitute the vast majority of the victims, emphasizing the need to take urgent and decisive measures to ensure their physical and psychological safety and save their lives.
The three organizations affirmed their categorical rejection of any plans aimed at displacing the Palestinian people from their land, considering this a grave violation of international law. They also affirmed their support for the Arab-Islamic plan for early recovery and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
A.D./ K.F.
