Arab-OIC Foreign Ministers: Israeli practices of ethnic cleansing and genocide against Palestinians must be stopped

CAIRO – 8 September 2025: Ina joint statement issued by the Foreign Ministers of the Arab-OIC Committee on Gaza, the Foreign Ministers of the Arab-OIC Committee on Gaza categorically rejected all statements made by Israel regarding the displacement of the Palestinian people from their territory, occupied since 1967, under any pretext. 

The statement was issued just few hours before Israeli Benjamine Netanyahu warned the Palestinians in the Gaza city in the north to leave it as the Israeli occupation forces will carry out a ground invasion into the city. The military expansion of Israeli forces aims to forcibly displace about one million of the Palestinians from the north part of the strip to the south.

They also condemned Israel’s policy of uprooting the Palestinian people from their land through expanding the military operations in Gaza, the use of siege and starvation as methods of war, the continued targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, and its efforts to prolong and widen the conflict that is already threatening regional and international peace and security. 

They reiterated their condemnation of Israel’s illegal measures in the West Bank, including settlement expansion, settler violence, demolitions of homes, and land confiscation.

The Foreign Ministers stressed that Israel’s flagrant violations of international humanitarian law must be stopped and demand accountability of all those involved in crimes that may amount to ethnic cleansing and genocide.

The Foreign Ministers reaffirmed their call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, for Israel to lift all restrictions on humanitarian access through all routes and crossings, and for the provision of international support to enable the legitimate Palestinian Authority to return to Gaza, and empower and assist the Palestinians in state-building. 

The Ministers underlined that Israel’s illegal practices and violations are a direct threat to international law, and an affront to the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter and the rule-based international order.

They call upon the international community, particularly the United Nations Security Council, to shoulder its responsibilities by ensuring the protection of the Palestinian people, their right to remain on their land in Gaza and the West Bank including East Jerusalem, and ending the illegal Israeli occupation.

The Ministers emphasized that the realization of a Palestinian state on the basis of 4th of June, 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital, remains the only solution in accordance with the right to self-determination, human rights, and all relevant international resolutions, and reaffirm their unwavering commitment to the realization of the Independent State of Palestine.