OIC slams Zionist attacks on Al-Aqsa, affirms Palestinian sovereignty over Al-Quds
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has strongly condemned the Zionist regime’s ongoing attacks against Al-Aqsa Mosque, stressing that there is no sovereignty for the regime over the city of Al-Quds and its holy sites, and that “East Jerusalem is an occupied Palestinian land.”
The Executive Committee of the Saudi-based organization held an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday in response to a request by Palestine and Jordan in the wake of daily attacks by the Israeli regime’s forces against Palestinians in the occupied territories as well as repeated acts of desecration of Al-Aqsa by Zionist settlers and officials including far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
In its final communique, the OIC condemned “in the strongest terms” the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and “violating its sanctity” by Ben-Gvir, calling it “a provocative step that represents a flagrant and unacceptable violation of international law and the existing historical and legal status in Al-Quds and its holy sites.”
“It is a dangerous escalation that requires the international community, including the Security Council, to work immediately to stop it through effective steps that would compel Israel, the occupying power, to stop its attacks on the Palestinian people and its violations of international law and international humanitarian law, and not to take any provocative steps in Al-Quds Al-Sharif that would prejudice the feelings of millions of Muslims around the world and threaten security and stability in the region”, said the text of the communique released on the official website of the OIC.
It stressed that Al-Aqsa Mosque, in its entirety, “is a pure place of worship for Muslims”, and affirmed “the right of the State of Palestine to sovereignty over the occupied city of East Jerusalem, and that Israel, the occupying power, has no right nor sovereignty over the occupied city of Al-Quds and its Islamic and Christian holy sites.”
The OIC called on the international community to put pressure on the Zionist regime to stop its violations including its settlement expansion and all measures “aimed at changing the legal and historical status quo” of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.