OIC SecGen condemns ground offensive against Gaza, calls for UN GA meeting – OIC press release/Non UN document

The OIC Secretary General condemns the Israeli ground incursion into Gaza and calls for a General Assembly meeting upon failure by UN Security Council to adopt binding resolution

Date: 04/01/2009  

The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, condemned the ground offensive launched by Israel against the Gaza Strip.

He stated that the incursion underscores the need for the international community to take an urgent and serious action to put an end to Israel's aggression against the Palestinian people and to deter its disdain for human values and for international treaties and laws that criminalize the targeting of civilians.

Ihsanoglu said that the OIC deploys tremendous efforts to stop Israel's aggression against the Palestinian people, recalling that the meeting of the OIC Expanded Executive Committee at the level of Foreign Ministers held yesterday decided to take action at all levels. In fact, he pointed out, the OIC has already started implementing the resolutions of the meeting and has conducted extensive and high-level contacts with a number of international parties to put an end to the Israeli aggression.

Considering that the UN Security Council has failed to adopt a binding resolution to stop the Israeli aggression, which has escalated to dangerous levels, the OIC Executive Committee has issued yesterday a decision, inviting all Member States to cooperate with all peace-loving nations in the world to overcome this failure by convening a meeting of the General Assembly UN General Assembly within the framework of 'Uniting for Peace' so as to put the international community face to face with its responsibilities. In this context, the Secretary General addresses an urgent appeal to the countries of the world to join the OIC's efforts in order to put an end to the Israeli aggression and protect Palestinian civilians.