NEW YORK: Members of the Ministerial Committee assigned by the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit on Gaza under the chairmanship of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah met on Wednesday, with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres.
The ministerial meeting comes on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) high-level week to discuss means to intensify Arab and Islamic action during the General Assembly’s work to support efforts aimed at activating recognition of the Palestinian state and ensuring the fulfillment of the rights of Palestinians to embody their independent, sovereign state along the June 4, 1967 lines, with occupied Jerusalem as its capital, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
It added that the meeting also discussed the dangerous developments in Gaza, and the Israeli occupation continued its military escalation against unarmed civilians, reiterating the unified stance of Arab and Islamic nations in rejecting the Israeli occupation forces’ continued aggression against Palestinians in Gaza, and their call for the need for an immediate and complete truce, and ensuring the protection of civilians as stipulated by global humanitarian law.
The committee also expressed their appreciation for the efforts of the UN Chief Antonio Guterres, and his courageous positions that he has shown during the crisis, particularly with regard to efforts to secure civilians and provide humanitarian help.
The committee discussed the importance of the role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) as an indispensable necessity in all humanitarian response operations in the Gaza Strip, the SPA added.
The committee members called for addressing all the blatant violations carried out by the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinians, which exacerbate the humanitarian tragedy and obstruct the entry of urgent humanitarian assistance into the besieged Gaza, stressing the significance of holding the Israeli occupation state answerable for the current violations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, which violates global law and humanitarian law.
The committee stressed the significance of taking serious and urgent measures to ensure the security of relief corridors to provide sufficient and urgent humanitarian, medical and food aid to Gaza, expressing their rejection of restricting the entry of humanitarian assistance in a rapid, safe and sustainable, manner.
The members of the committee also expressed their unequivocally rejecting all shapes of forced displacement operations that the occupation seeks to implement, stressing the significance of adhering to global law and international humanitarian law and emphasizing confronting these operations at all levels.
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani; Dr. Mohammed Mustafa, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Palestine; the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Jordan, Ayman Al-Safadi; Dr. Badr Abdelatty, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt; Dr. Abdullatif Al-Zayani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain; Hakan Fidan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye; Retno Marsudi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia; Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States; and Hissein Brahim Taha, Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) were also present in the meeting.
