The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said on Sunday that it is greatly concerned about the developments on the ground and the dangerous Israeli escalation in the occupied Palestinian territory.
“The OIC condemned the Israeli military aggression that led to fall of hundreds of martyrs and wounded among the Palestinian people, stressing that the continuation of the Israeli occupation and its failure to adhere to the resolutions of international legitimacy, and the escalation of the pace of its attacks and daily crimes against the Palestinian people, their land and sanctities, and depriving them of their legitimate rights is the main reason for instability,” the OIC said in a statement.
Two Israelis, one Egyptian shot dead in Alexandria
The OIC held the Israeli occupation responsible for the escalation and, at the same time, called on the international community, especially the UN Security Council, to assume its responsibilities towards stopping the Israeli aggression, providing international protection for the Palestinian people, and sponsoring a credible political process to end the Israeli occupation and establish an independent, sovereign Palestinian state, with East Al-Quds as its capital on the lines of June 04, 1967, and achieving a just and comprehensive peace based on the vision of a two-state solution per international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.
Israel battered Gaza on Sunday, a day after suffering its bloodiest attack in decades when Hamas fighters rampaged through Israeli towns, killing hundreds and abducting an unknown number of others, threatening a major new war in the Middle East.
In a sign the conflict could spread beyond Gaza, Israel, and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militia exchanged artillery and rocket fire, while in Alexandria, two Israeli tourists were shot dead along with their Egyptian guide.
Overnight, Israeli air strikes had hit housing blocks, tunnels, a mosque, and homes of Hamas officials in Gaza, killing more than 300 people, including 20 children, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed “mighty vengeance for this wicked day”.