BETHLEHEM, February 27, 2026 (WAFA) – The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Thursday affirmed rejection of recent Israeli measures aimed at deepening the annexation of the occupied West Bank.

In the final communique concluding the emergency open-ended meeting of the executive committee of the OIC at the level of foreign ministers, the OIC stated that it rejects and strongly condemns “the recent hostile decisions and measures of the illegal Israeli occupying power aimed at expanding Israeli control and deepening annexation policies in the West Bank, including Al-Quds Al-Shareef, considering these null and void decisions that must be rescinded and  affirming in this regard its rejection of any form of annexation.”

It reaffirmed “the centrality of the question of Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Shareef to the entire Islamic ummah, and the Palestinian, Arab and Islamic identity of occupied East Al-Quds, and the need to articulate a unified position of the Islamic Ummah to defend the sanctity of the Islamic and Christian holy sites therein, and that the Palestinian cause is like all just causes of peoples struggling to be free from colonialism and to gain their rights.”

Guided by the principles and objectives of the Charter of the United Nations, notably the principle of the inadmissibility of the forcible seizure of territories belonging to others, the OIC reaffirmed its “principled support for the Palestinian people and their legitimate leadership, represented by the PLO, in their pursuit of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine within the borders of June 4, 1967, with Al-Quds Al-Shareef as its capital.”

It also reaffirmed its principled support to the “right of return for refugees in accordance with United Nations Resolution 194, emphasizing the principle of the unity and integrity of the Palestinian territory, and that the West Bank, including East Al-Quds, and the Gaza Strip constitute one single, indivisible geographical and political unit for one people.”

It declared its “absolute rejection and strong condemnation of the recent hostile decisions and measures taken by the illegal Israeli occupation authority, including the announcement by the so-called Israeli "Cabinet" of illegal decisions aimed at imposing a colonial settlement reality in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly in the West Bank, including Al-Quds Al-Shareef, and emphasizes that these decisions are null and void and must be rescinded immediately.”

It affirmed the need to “compel Israel, the occupying power, to implement a comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, abide by the implementation of the US President Trump’s plan, move on to the second phase of the plan, the full withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, facilitate the return of displaced persons to their homes.”

It also affirmed the need for “the State of Palestine to assume its full responsibility, with Arab, Islamic, and international support, to commit to full and normal opening of all crossings with the Gaza Strip, to facilitate the recovery and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, and to ensure the adequate and sustained delivery of humanitarian aid to all parts of the Gaza Strip.”

The OIC expressed its resolve to “strongly challenge the dangerous criminal and hostile measures, practices, policies, decisions, laws, and plans of the Israeli occupation, and to take all possible political and legal measures and steps, including action before the Security Council, the UN General Assembly, international courts, and any other relevant international organizations and bodies, to counter this colonial and expansionist policy.”

It further reaffirmed that “peace and security in the Middle East, as a strategic choice, which will only be achieved with the end of the illegal Israeli occupation, the complete withdrawal from the territory of the State of Palestine occupied since 1967, including the City of Al-Quds Al-Shareef, in accordance with the principles of international law, relevant resolutions of international legitimacy, the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, the Arab Peace Initiative in its entirety and in its natural sequence as presented at the Arab Summit in Beirut in 2002, and the removal of the effects of the occupation and the provision of reparations.”

K.F.