Admin I Monday, March 25, 2024
JEDDAH – The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned the Israeli occupation’s decision to seize 8,000 dunums in the northern Al-Aghwar area of the West Bank with the aim of expanding colonial settlements.
In a statement, the OIC said the development reflects the Israeli occupation’s persistence in committing more crimes and taking illegal measures in flagrant violation of international law and international legitimacy resolutions.
The OIC also renewed its call on the international community, especially the UN Security Council, to assume its responsibilities towards putting an end to all crimes and attacks of the Israeli occupation throughout the occupied Palestinian territory, especially in the Gaza Strip.
Last week, the OIC issued a statement, stating that the Israeli occupation forces have continued to pressure the Palestinians by starving them and systematically killing them in the Gaza Strip.
“This was done through bombing and sniping at crowds waiting for aid, and through the slow death of Gaza residents after targeting food warehouses, as happened recently in Rafah.
“In Rafah, 5 Palestinians were killed in a deliberate Israeli bombing of the largest warehouse belonging to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) on March 13, 2024.
“The number of those killed during the period monitored by the OIC Observatory for Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians between March 12-18, 2024 reached (614) martyrs and (1,049) wounded, one hundred of whom were killed and two hundred wounded in the second massacre at the Kuwait Roundabout on March 14, 2024, and dozens were killed in the Shifa Hospital massacre on March 18, 2024. The number of Palestinian martyrs after 165 days of Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip reached about (32,161) martyrs, in addition to two million displaced people in Rafah and adjacent areas, and (63,000) housing units were damaged.
“In the cities and villages of the West Bank, (10) people were killed, while the Israeli occupation forces arrested (126) people. The number of settler attacks on Palestinian villages reached (34), including Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah, Salfit, Jenin, Tulkarm, and Jerusalem. The occupation forces demolished a restaurant in Jericho and 4 barracks in Jenin. In Bethlehem, the occupation forces confiscated a vehicle and destroyed property in Nablus, Hebron, and Jerusalem, and carried out settlement activities that included constructing roads and erecting fences for settlement outposts in Salfit and Nablus.
“The blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque was subjected to restrictions on the first Friday of the holy month of Ramadan. The Israeli occupation forces prevented young men from performing prayers in the mosque and prevented medical teams from entering its courtyards. The occupation forces also placed barbed wire at Asbat Gate on March 12, 2024. The number of those who stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa during the period from March 10 to 13, 2024 was about (1,741) people, including settlers and other so-called “tourist groups,” in addition to an American delegation last Friday.
“40 settlers stormed the “Bab al-Rahma” cemetery, adjacent to the eastern wall of Al-Aqsa, and destroyed a number of tombstones and restoration materials for the cemetery. They trampled on the graves and wandered around the cemetery”, the OIC said.
