Organization of Islamic Cooperation condemns ‘impunity’ for Israel in Gaza war

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Wednesday denounced Israel’s backers for granting the country “impunity” in its war in Gaza, as US President Joe Biden conducted a solidarity visit.

The 57-member bloc of Muslim-majority countries “deplores the international positions that back the brutal aggression against the Palestinian people, and grant Israel impunity, taking advantage of the double standards that provide cover for the occupying power,” said an OIC statement published after an emergency meeting of foreign ministers.

The same statement blamed Israel for a rocket strike on Gaza’s Christian-run Ahli Arab Hospital that killed 471 people according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Arab countries have also individually blamed Israel for the incident that has inflamed anger across the Middle East.

But Biden, meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Wednesday voiced support for Israel’s position that a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket caused the deadly carnage at the hospital, citing “data I was shown by my defense department.”

The strike came as Israel continued to rain bombs on Gaza in response to the bloody October 7 attack by Hamas.

The OIC, based in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah, called on the international community “to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for these heinous war crimes against the Palestinian people.”

It also condemned the United Nations Security Council for failing to stop the violence.

“Everyone who gave Israel carte blanche to wage this deadly war, provided it with weapons, and even sent military reinforcements to support it in committing this heinous crime, colluded with this crime,” Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said in his remarks.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said that the siege on Gaza must be lifted, adding that the international community must take a responsible stance to protect the Palestinians in Gaza.

We stress the necessity of delivering aid to Gaza to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, he added.

We stress the necessity of establishing a Palestinian state, said Prince Faisal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Israel was acting “with the full support of the United States and some Western countries.”

Earlier, he told reporters in Jeddah that Islamic countries with diplomatic ties with Israel should expel its ambassadors and “stop exporting oil to this regime,” though the OIC statement did not mention such steps.