The Special Envoy of the President, Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid, has issued an urgent plea for action to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. This call was made during his address at the Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit held in Riyadh.
The summit, convened by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was organised to address the severe Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people. Shahid, representing President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, vehemently condemned the ongoing Israeli military actions against Palestinian civilians and underscored the necessity for an immediate ceasefire.
Shahid drew attention to the deteriorating humanitarian condition in Gaza, advocating for the provision of essential supplies such as food and medicine to the besieged enclave. In its intense bombardment of Gaza, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, Israel has killed at least 11,078 people, including over 4,500 children. Additionally, over 24,000 people have been injured and over a million people have been displaced.
The Special Envoy urged the international community to make every effort to prevent the collective punishment of the people of Gaza, a clear violation of international humanitarian law. He reaffirmed that the key to enduring peace and stability in Palestine and the broader Middle East is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The summit will conclude with the adoption of the “Resolution of the Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit to Discuss the Israeli Aggression Against the Palestinian People in the Gaza Strip and Throughout the Palestinian Territory, including Al-Quds Al-Sharif.” This resolution represents a unified stance of the Member States to terminate all illegal Israeli practices that perpetuate the occupation and deprive the Palestinian people of their rights.
The Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit, a merger of the previously planned Extraordinary Islamic Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Emergency Arab Summit, has been a consistent advocate for the Palestinian people. The Maldives, an active member of the OIC since 1976, continues to lend its voice to this cause.
