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12 May 2021

OIC Group Statement on the Grave Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East :

1. The OIC Group at the in New York convened on 10 May 2021 to consider the grave developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including , including violent and escalating attacks by the Israeli occupying forces on Al-Aqsa /Al- Al-Sharif, the forced displacement of Palestinian families from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem, and the killing and injury of civilians, including the killing of at least 29 , among them 10 children and a woman, following Israeli air strikes against the and the injury of hundreds of civilians in occupied East Jerusalem in attacks by the Israeli occupying forces and extremist Israeli settlers that are terrorizing the entire Palestinian civilian population.

2. The OIC Group condemned in the strongest possible terms these brutal assaults by , the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people, their homes, land and holy sites, and demanded an immediate and complete halt to all of its grave violations of international law, including humanitarian and human rights law, and the countless United Nations resolutions on the Question of . The OIC Group warned that continuation of such acts of Israeli violence, provocation, incitement and destruction risks further destabilizing the situation with dangerous ramifications for the security in the and beyond, threatening innocent civilian lives.

3. The OIC Group cautioned in particular about the dangerous implications of Israel’s repeated and deliberate stoking of religious sensitivities, provoking the Palestinian people and the entire Muslim ummah, including its escalation of attacks since the beginning of the Muslim holy of targeting Palestinians in Jerusalem, obstruction of access by worshippers to the holy sites for their religious rites, including access by to Al-Aqsa Mosque and access by to Jerusalem during the celebrations, and violent raids by occupation forces on Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif and intimidation and assaults on Muslim worshipers.

4. The OIC Group demanded an end to all of these violations and demanded that Israel, the occupying Power, respect the sanctity of the holy sites in the and the historic and legal at Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al- Haram Al-Sharif. They stressed that Israel is an occupying Power and that it has no sovereignty rights whatsoever in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in East Jerusalem and at Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al- Haram Al-Sharif, which remains under the sole and exclusive authority of Jerusalem’s Awqaf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs administration. They reiterated in this regard their absolute rejection of any attempts to alter the historical and legal status quo in the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, including Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif. They underscored the historical Hashemite custodianship of King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of , over these holy sites and his role in protecting their Arab, Islamic and Christian identity, as as the important role of Al-Quds Committee chaired by King Mohammed VI of .

5. The OIC Group also reiterated the OIC’s longstanding rejection and condemnation of all Israeli colonial settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. They condemned Israel’s ongoing construction and expansion of settlements, building of the wall, confiscation of Palestinian land, homes and properties, the demolition of homes and the eviction and forced displacement of Palestinians from their homes, amounting to forced transfer, all actions constituting grave breaches of international law. They expressed their alarm in particular about ongoing Israeli plans threatening to forcibly evict hundreds of Palestinian families from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem, including families in the and neighbourhoods of the City who are facing imminent eviction by Israeli courts in collaboration with extremist settler groups and the Israeli government. They demanded immediate cessation of all such illegal policies and practices, which contravene its obligations under the United Nations Charter, the 4th Geneva Convention, international human rights law and United Nations resolutions, including Security Council resolution 2334 (2016), and called for the reversal of all illegal decisions, including regarding the imminent eviction of the families in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan.

6. The OIC Group called for swift international action to address this crisis situation with the aim of bringing a halt to all of these flagrant violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and holding Israel, the occupying Power accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people. They further stressed the urgency of ensuring protection to the Palestinian people, including in the besieged Gaza Strip, where casualties continue to mount and homes and infrastructure are being destroyed by the occupying Power’s barbaric military assaults. They called for such protection in accordance with international humanitarian law, as repeatedly called for by the United Nations General Assembly, including in its resolution ES-10/20 of 13 June 2018, and in line with the Final Communique of the Seventh Extraordinary Islamic Summit, including by dispatching an international protection force to save innocent children, women and men from the ongoing assaults by the Israeli occupation forces and extremist settlers and .

7. The OIC Group stressed in particular the responsibility of the Security Council to act in accordance with its Charter mandate for the maintenance of international peace and security. They urged the Security Council to shoulder its responsibilities and to unify to overcome its paralysis on the longest-standing item on its agenda, which remains a priority for the international community, as repeatedly affirmed in the Council’s debates. They called on the Council to act without delay to uphold its resolutions and ensure their full implementation and respect, stressing that these resolutions constitute the basis of and key to a just and lasting solution, in line with the prevailing international consensus.

8. The OIC Group determined that if the Security Council fails to uphold its responsibilities to address this crisis, the Group will call upon the General Assembly to rise up to its responsibilities, including through resumption of the tenth emergency special session with a view to bringing a halt to Israel’s aggressions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, ensuring protection to the Palestinian people, and pursuing measures to hold Israel, the occupying Power, accountable for its grave breaches of international law and human rights violations.

9. The OIC Group expresses its determination to engage with all other countries and groups at the United Nations and with the Secretary-General to advance international action to urgently and effectively address the grave situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. They reiterated also their readiness to engage in all efforts to support the just cause of Palestine, promote the realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including to self-determination, and a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-State solution, with East Jerusalem as the capital of the , in line with the internationally-agreed parameters based on the relevant United Nations resolutions and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and urged the international community’s serious mobilization to this end.