OIC calls for concerted efforts to resolve Palestine issue

Jeddah: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Friday called for concerted international efforts to resolve the Palestine issue as it accused Israel of violating human rights of the Palestinian people.

"Israeli occupation represents a violation of both international humanitarian law and international human rights law. It is, in fact, the root cause of all escalations and ongoing human rights violations of the Palestinian People," it said.

"The commission, therefore, calls for concerted international efforts to pave the way to a peaceful political settlement to end this grave situation," the OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission said during its sixth regular session here, Saudi Press Agency reported.

The 56-member bloc also called for convening the Conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Four Geneva Conventions as early as possible.

"The commission is seriously concerned that tens of thousands of Palestinians remain without homes in the aftermath of the latest Israeli incursion on Gaza," a statement said, adding that Israel was obliged "under Articles 50 and 56 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to ensure the unfettered access of the Palestinian population to education and health services".

It also stressed Israel's "obligation as the occupying power, to lift the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, in accordance with international humanitarian law, in order to allow for unhindered access of goods and construction material necessary for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip".

The OIC said that the illegal settlement activities in and around East Jerusalem, and in the West Bank, "constitute immediate threats to the two-state solution". "Only a just and comprehensive peace would be a lasting one. The boycott, divestment and sanctions movement worldwide is a much welcomed effort to bring this issue to the fore," it said.