JADDAH, July 23, 2025 (WAFA) - The Final Communiqué adopted by the Extraordinary Open-Ended Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation at the Level of Permanent Representatives regarding the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people reiterated the necessity to compel Israel, the occupying force, to cease all fire, facilitate the return of displaced persons to their homes, withdraw its occupation forces, and allow the State of Palestine to assume its full responsibilities, with support from Arab, Islamic, and international communities.
It stressed that: “All crossings with the Gaza Strip should be opened, and the occupation forces must withdraw from the entire Gaza Strip, including the area surrounding the Rafah crossing on the Palestinian side, so that it can resume operations while the crossing on the Egyptian side continues to operate without interruption, ensuring the delivery of adequate humanitarian aid to all parts of the Gaza Strip.”
It emphasized the obligation of all states to confront and halt serious crimes, fully comply with international law, and adhere to the precautionary measures ordered by the International Court of Justice and Security Council Resolutions 2735 and 2728 (2024).
It condemned in the strongest terms the policy of starvation and systematic destruction, the illegal Israeli blockade, the imposition of unlawful mechanisms for the distribution of aid, undermining the work of the United Nations in the distribution of aid, and targeting civilians with humiliation and killing while receiving aid through the newly introduced unlawful Israeli mechanism. “Such actions have led to a serious and unprecedented exacerbation of the humanitarian suffering in the Gaza Strip, rendering it uninhabitable.”
It rejected any calls, plans, or policies aimed at any form of displacement of the Palestinian people inside or outside Palestine, including the Gaza Strip, or altering its demographic composition. It also warned all States against cooperating directly or indirectly with Israeli displacement plans, as any such cooperation would constitute a grave violation of the rules of international humanitarian law.
It warned of the dangers posed by the ongoing and escalating military aggression and crimes committed by the Israeli occupation in the West Bank, especially in refugee camps, including detentions, home demolitions, infrastructure destruction, forced displacement, deportation of the Palestinian people, changes in the demographic composition, colonial settlement, and attempts to impose claimed Israeli sovereignty over these areas in blatant violation of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.
It further condemned in the strongest terms the illegal and dangerous plans of the Israeli occupation to transfer the management and oversight of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron from the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs and the Hebron Municipality to an illegal settlement council known as the ‘Jewish Religious Council in the Kiryat Arba Settlement.’ “This move aims to alter the mosque’s unique historical, cultural, and religious characteristics and status. Such actions represent a blatant violation of UN and UNESCO resolutions, as well as international agreements that call for the protection of cultural, religious, and civil rights and property, particularly during armed conflict.”
It strongly condemned the recent Israeli bombing of the Holy Family Church of the Latin Patriarchate in Gaza City, which resulted in the killing and injury of several innocent Palestinian civilians and caused significant damage to the church building and its historic facilities. It also condemned the attacks carried out by extremist colonists, under the protection of Israeli occupation forces, on the Al-Khader Church and the Christian cemetery in the town of Taybeh, near Ramallah, in clear violation of all international values, conventions, and resolutions safeguarding places of worship.
It condemned the illegal Israeli occupation policies aimed at ‘Judaizing’ the occupied city of Jerusalem. It highlighted attempts to change the city’s geographic and demographic character through annexation, colonial settlement policies, home demolitions, confiscation of land and property, closure of Palestinian shops and institutions, and the imposition of Israeli educational curricula. It also condemned attempts to alter the historical and legal status of Islamic and Christian holy sites, particularly the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, which violates international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.
It reaffirmed that Israel, as the illegal occupying power, has no sovereignty over or under the Occupied Palestinian Territory, whether above or beneath the ground, including Al-Quds Ash-Sharif, nor over any religious, historical, or world heritage sites in the State of Palestine. It supported the exclusive right of the State of Palestine to oversee, maintain, and protect the Ibrahimi Mosque, ensuring freedom of access and the practice of religious rituals while preserving its cultural and historical identity, as this is a religious and cultural right of the Palestinian people.
It Urged the international community to take practical and concrete steps, including imposing sanctions on the Israeli colonial regime, to halt all illegal practices, measures, and policies, and to hold Israel, as the illegal colonial occupying power, accountable for all its crimes and violations of international humanitarian law, whether committed by government officials, occupation forces, or terrorist colonists.
It condemned and warned against the continued illegal withholding of tax revenues belonging to the Palestinian authorities by the Israeli occupation, as it violates signed agreements. "This action jeopardizes the Palestinian government’s ability to provide essential services and worsens the economic and humanitarian crisis faced by the Palestinian people.” It urged the international community to pressure Israel, the occupying power, to fulfill its legal and financial obligations in this matter.
It called upon the Member States to increase their financial, economic, and humanitarian support for the State of Palestine and stresses the need to activate the Islamic Financial Safety Net in accordance with the resolutions passed by successive sessions of the Islamic Summit Conference and the Council of Foreign Ministers to assist the Palestinian government in fulfilling its obligations to the Palestinian people, especially in light of the ongoing Israeli aggression.
T.R.
