Saudi Gazette report

NEW YORK — Members of the Ministerial Committee assigned by the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit on Gaza met with the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres in New York on Wednesday. The committee is headed by Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

The committee members expressed their appreciation for the efforts of the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and his courageous positions that he has shown during the crisis, especially with regard to efforts to protect civilians and provide humanitarian assistance.

The ministerial committee’s meeting came on the sidelines of the High-Level Week of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly to discuss ways 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 the Palestinian people to embody their independent, sovereign state along the June 4, 1967 lines, with occupied Jerusalem as its capital.

The meeting discussed the dangerous developments in the Gaza Strip, and the continued military escalation at the hand of the Israeli occupation forces against unarmed civilians. The meeting reiterated the unified position of Arab and Islamic countries in rejecting the Israeli occupation forces' continued aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and renewed their call for the need for an immediate and complete ceasefire so as to ensure the protection of civilians as stipulated by international humanitarian law.

The committee members 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 Gaza. They stressed the importance of countering the systematic campaigns aimed at undermining the agency's role. They also noted the importance of supporting it to ensure the delivery of assistance to those in need.

The committee members called for addressing all the flagrant violations committed by the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian people, which exacerbate the humanitarian tragedy and obstruct the entry of urgent humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip, stressing the importance of holding the Israeli occupation state accountable for the ongoing violations in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, which violates international law and international humanitarian law.

The committee members also stressed the importance of taking serious and urgent steps to ensure the security of relief corridors to deliver sufficient and urgent humanitarian, food, and medical aid to the Gaza Strip, expressing their rejection of restricting the entry of humanitarian aid in a rapid, sustainable, and safe manner.

The members of the ministerial committee unequivocally rejected all forms of forced displacement operations that the occupation seeks to implement, stressing the importance of adhering to international law and international humanitarian law. They also emphasized the need to confront these operations at all levels.

The Islamic Ministerial Committee was represented in the meeting by Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani; Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Palestine Dr. Mohammed Mustafa; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Jordan Ayman Al-Safadi; Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt Dr. Badr Abdelatty; Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Abdullatif Al-Zayani; Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan; Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia Retno Marsudi; Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit; and Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Hissein Brahim Taha.