RIYADH: The Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit, which concluded in Riyadh on Saturday, adopted the following resolution:
We, the leaders of the states and governments of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the League of Arab States,
have decided to merge the two summits that the OIC and the Arab League
had decided to hold. This came in response to the kind invitations of
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (the chair of the two summits) and the State
of Palestine. We express our joint stance in condemning the brutal
Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and
in the West Bank, including Al-Quds Al-Sharif. We affirm addressing
together this aggression and the humanitarian catastrophe that it
causes. We seek to stop and end all Israeli illegal practices that
perpetuate the occupation and deprive the Palestinian people of their
rights, especially their right to freedom and to have an independent
sovereign State on all their national territory.
We express our thanks to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King
Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and
His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud,
Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for their kind hospitality.
We reaffirm all resolutions of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC) and the Arab League regarding the Palestinian cause and all
occupied Arab territories.
We recall all resolutions of the United Nations and other international
organizations regarding the Palestinian cause, the crimes of the
Israeli occupation and the right of the Palestinian people to freedom
and independence in all its territories, which have been occupied since
1967 and constitute a sole geographical unit.
We welcome the UN General Assembly Resolution A/ES-10/L.25 adopted by the tenth emergency session on 26 October 2023.
We affirm the centrality of the Palestinian cause and our standing with
all our powers and capabilities by the brotherly Palestinian people in
their legitimate struggle to liberate all their occupied territories and
to meet all their inalienable rights. This particularly includes their
right to self-determination and to live in their independent and
sovereign state on the borders of June 4th, 1967 with Al-Quds Al-Sharif
as its capital.
We reaffirm that a just, lasting and comprehensive peace, which is a
strategic option, is the only way to establish security and stability
for all peoples of the region and protect them from cycles of violence
and wars. This, we stress, will not be achieved without ending the
Israeli occupation and resolving the Palestinian cause on the basis of
the two-state solution.
We affirm that it is impossible to achieve regional peace while
overlooking the Palestinian cause or attempting to ignore the rights of
the Palestinian people. We stress that the Arab Peace Initiative, backed
by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, is an essential reference
to this end.
We hold Israel, the occupying force, responsible for the continuation
and aggravation of the conflict, which is the result of its violation of
the rights of the Palestinian people, and of the Islamic and Christian
sanctities. This is also the result of its systematic aggressive
policies and practices, its illegal unilateral steps that perpetuate the
occupation, violate international law, and prevent the realization of a
just and comprehensive peace.
We affirm that Israel, and all countries of the region, will not enjoy
security and peace unless the Palestinians enjoy theirs and regain all
their stolen rights. We stress that the continuation of the Israeli
occupation is a threat to the security and stability of the region and
to international security and peace.
We condemn all forms of hatred and discrimination, and all acts that perpetuate hatred and extremism.
We warn of the disastrous repercussions of the retaliatory aggression
by Israel against the Gaza Strip, which amounts to a war crime, and the
barbaric crimes committed also in the West Bank and Al-Quds Al-Sharif.
We warn of the real danger of the expansion of the war as a result of
Israel’s refusal to stop its aggression and of the inability of the
Security Council to enforce international law to end this aggression.
We decide to:
Condemn the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip and the war
crimes as well as the barbaric, inhumane and brutal massacres being
committed by the colonial occupation government against the strip and
the Palestinian people in the occupied West Bank, including East
Al-Quds. We demand ceasing this aggression immediately.
Reject describing this retaliatory war as self-defense or justifying it under any pretext.
Break the siege on Gaza and impose the immediate entry of Arab, Islamic
and international humanitarian aid convoys, including food, medicine
and fuel into the Gaza Strip. We call on international organizations to
participate in this process, stressing the need for their entry to the
strip and for protecting their teams to enable them to fully fulfill
their role. We affirm the necessity of supporting the United Nations
Relief and Works for Palestine Refugees Agency (UNRWA).
Support all steps taken by the Arab Republic of Egypt to confront the
consequences of the brutal Israeli aggression on Gaza. We support its
efforts to bring aid into the strip in an immediate, sustainable and
adequate manner.
Call on the UN Security Council to take a decisive and binding decision
that imposes a cessation of aggression and curbs the colonial
occupation authority that violates international law, international
humanitarian law, and international legitimacy resolutions, the latest
of which is United Nations General Assembly Resolution No. A/ES-10/L.25
dated 26/10/2023. Inaction is considered a complicity that allows Israel
to continue its brutal aggression that kills innocent people, children,
the elderly, and women, and turns Gaza into ruin.
Call on all countries to stop exporting weapons and ammunition to the
occupation authorities that are used by their army and terrorist
settlers to kill the Palestinian people and destroy their homes,
hospitals, schools, mosques, churches and all their capabilities.
Call on the Security Council to promptly pass a resolution condemning
Israel’s barbaric destruction of hospitals in the Gaza Strip, the
obstruction of medicine, food and fuel and the severing of crucial
services like electricity, water, communication and internet access.
These acts of collective punishment amount to war crimes under
international law. We emphasize the need to impose this resolution on
Israel, the occupying power, to ensure compliance with international
laws and to immediately cease these barbaric and inhumane measures. We
stress the necessity of lifting the blockade that Israel has imposed on
the Gaza Strip for years.
Call on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to complete
the investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity being
committed by Israel against the Palestinian people in all the occupied
Palestinian territories, including East Al-Quds. We assign the General
Secretariats of the OIC and the Arab League to follow up on the
implementation of this investigation and establish two specialized legal
monitoring units to document Israeli crimes committed in the Gaza Strip
since October 7, 2023. The units will then prepare legal proceedings on
all violations of international law and international humanitarian law
committed by Israel, the occupying power, against the Palestinian people
in the Gaza Strip and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories,
including East Al-Quds. Each unit shall submit its report 15 days after
its formation to be presented to the Arab League Council at the level
of foreign ministers and to the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC.
Subsequently, monthly reports should be submitted thereafter.
Support legal and political initiatives for the State of Palestine to
hold Israeli occupying authorities accountable for their crimes against
the Palestinian people, including the advisory opinion process at the
International Court of Justice, and allow the investigative committee
established by the Human Rights Council resolution to investigate these
crimes without obstruction.
Assign the two secretariats of to establish two media monitoring units
to document all the crimes committed by the occupying authorities
against the Palestinian people, alongside digital media platforms to
publish and expose their illegitimate and inhumane practices.
Assign the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in its
capacity as the presidency of the 32nd Arab and Islamic Summit, along
with counterparts from Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye, Indonesia,
Nigeria, and Palestine, and any other interested countries, and the
Secretary-General of both organisations to initiate immediate
international action on behalf of all member states of the OIC and the
Arab League to formulate an international move to halt the war in Gaza
and to pressure for a real and serious political process to achieve
permanent and comprehensive peace in accordance with established
international references.
Call upon member states of the OIC and the Arab League to exert
diplomatic, political, and legal pressures, and take any deterrent
actions to halt the crimes committed by the colonial occupation
authorities against humanity.
Condemn the double standards in applying international law; warn that
this duality seriously undermines both the credibility of countries
shielding Israel from international law and placing it above the law, as
well as the credibility of multilateral action, exposing the
selectivity in applying the system of humanitarian values; and emphasize
that the positions of Arab and Islamic countries will be affected by
such double standards that lead to a rift between civilizations and
cultures.
Condemn the displacement of nearly one and a half million Palestinians
from the northern to the southern areas of the Gaza Strip as a war crime
under the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and its 1977 Protocol; call
on the parties to the Convention to collectively denounce and reject
this action; call on all United Nations organizations to confront the
attempt of the colonial occupation authorities to perpetuate this
miserable inhuman reality; and stress the immediate necessity for the
return of these displaced individuals to their homes and regions.
Fully and absolutely reject, along with collectively opposing, any
attempts at individual or mass forced displacement, deportation, or
exile of the Palestinian people whether within the Gaza Strip, the West
Bank including Al-Quds (Jerusalem), or outside their territories to any
destination, considering it a red line and a war crime.
Condemn the killing and targeting of civilians, as a principled stance
based on our humanitarian values and in line with international law and
humanitarian principles, and emphasize the immediate and swift steps the
international community must take to cease the killing and targeting of
Palestinian civilians, in a way that confirms the absolute equivalence
of every single life, rejecting any discrimination based on nationality,
race, or religion.
Emphasize the necessity of releasing all prisoners and civilians;
condemn the heinous crimes committed by the colonial occupation
authorities against thousands of Palestinian prisoners; and call on all
concerned nations and international organizations to put pressure for
the cessation of these crimes and the prosecution of those responsible.
Stop the occupation forces’ killing crimes and the settlers’ terrorism
and crimes in the Palestinian villages, cities and refugee camps in the
occupied West Bank and all assaults on the Al Aqsa Mosque and all
Islamic and Christian sanctities.
Emphasize Israel's need to fulfil its obligations as the occupying
power by ceasing all illegal actions that perpetuate the occupation,
especially settlements' construction and expansion, land confiscation,
and the forced displacement of Palestinians from their homes.
Condemn the military operations launched by occupying forces against
Palestinian cities and camps; denounce settler terrorism; and urge the
international community to list these groups and organizations on global
terrorism lists, so that the Palestinian people can enjoy all the
rights afforded to other nations, including human rights, the right to
security, self-determination, the realization of their state's
independence on their land, and the provision of international
protection for them.
Condemn the Israeli assaults on Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy
sites and the Israeli illegitimate measures which violate freedom of
worship; emphasize the importance of respecting the existing legal and
historic status quo in the holy sites; emphasize that the Al Aqsa
Mosque/ Al Haram Al Sharif, with its entire 144,000 square meters, is a
place of worship solely for Muslims, with the Jordanian Awqaf and the
Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department being the exclusive sole legitimate
authority responsible for managing, maintaining, and regulating access
to Al Aqsa Mosque, within the framework of the historic Hashemite
custodianship of Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites; and
support the roles of the Al-Quds Committee and its efforts in addressing
the practices of the Israeli occupation authorities in the Holy City.
Condemn the extremist and racist hate speech and actions by ministers
within the Israeli occupying government, including one minister’s threat
to use nuclear weapons against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and
considering them a serious threat to international peace and security,
necessitating support for the conference aimed at establishing a
nuclear-weapon-free zone and eliminating all other weapons of mass
destruction in the Middle East, conducted within the framework of the
United Nations and its goals to address this threat.
Condemn the killing of journalists, children, and women, the targeting
of medics, and the use of internationally banned white phosphorus in the
Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and Lebanon; denounce the repeated
Israeli statements and threats to return Lebanon to the “Stone Age”;
emphasize the importance of preventing the expansion of the conflict;
and call on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to
investigate Israel’s use of chemical weapons.
Emphasize on that the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) is the
sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and call on
all Palestinian factions and parties to unite under its umbrella and
shoulder their responsibilities under a PLO-led national partnership.
Emphasize commitment to peace as a strategic choice, aiming to end
Israeli occupation and resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict in accordance
with international law and relevant legitimate decisions, including UN
Security Council Resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 497 (1981), 1515
(2003), and 2334 (2016); emphasizing adherence to the Arab Peace
Initiative of 2002 in its entirety and priorities as the unified Arab
consensus and the foundation for any peace revitalization efforts in the
Middle East. The precondition for peace with Israel and the
establishment of normal relations rests on ending its occupation of all
Palestinian and Arab territories. It also includes establishing an
independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state based on the June 4,
1967, borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, restoring the
inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to
self-determination, return, and compensation for Palestinian refugees,
resolving their issue justly per UN General Assembly Resolution 194 of
1948.
Emphasize the immediate need for the international community to launch a
serious peace process to establish a two-state solution that fulfils
all legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, notably their right to
realize an independent, sovereign state along the June 4, 1967 borders,
with East Jerusalem as its capital to in security and peace alongside
Israel, aligning with international legitimacy and the complete
framework of the Arab Peace Initiative.
Emphasize that the failure to resolve the Palestinian cause over more
than 75 years, the lack of response to the Israeli colonial occupation's
crimes, its deliberate policies undermining the two-state solution
through settlement building and expansion, alongside unconditional
support to Israel and shielding it from accountability, as well as
disregarding continual warnings about the dangers of ignoring these
crimes and their serious implications on international security and
peace, has led to a severe deterioration of the situation.
Reject any proposals that perpetuate the separation of Gaza from the
West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and emphasize that any future
approach to Gaza must be within the framework of working towards a
comprehensive solution ensuring the unity of Gaza and the West Bank as
part of the Palestinian state, which must materialize as a free,
independent, sovereign entity with its capital in East Jerusalem on the
borders of June 4, 1967.
Call for convening an international peace conference, as soon as
possible, through which a credible peace process will be launched based
on international law, legitimate resolutions, and the principle of land
for peace, within a defined timeframe and international guarantees,
ultimately leading to the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian
territories since 1967, including East Jerusalem, the occupied Syrian
Golan Heights, the Shebaa Farms, the Kfar Shuba Hills, and the outskirts
of the Lebanese village of al-Mari, and the implementation of a
two-state solution.
Activate the Arab and Islamic Financial Safety Net in line with the
decisions of the fourteenth session of the Islamic Summit Conference and
the Arab Summit resolutions, to provide financial contributions and
support — economic, financial, and humanitarian — to the government of
the State of Palestine and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency
for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Emphasize the necessity
of mobilizing international partners to reconstruct Gaza and alleviate
the comprehensive destruction caused by the Israeli aggression
immediately upon cessation.
Assign both the Secretary-General of the Arab League and the OIC to
closely oversee the implementation of the resolution and present a
report on it at the upcoming sessions of their respective councils.