Riyadh, 8 August 2024 (TDI): The assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh risks tipping the Middle East into a “wider conflict,” the chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said on Wednesday.
Speaking at an extraordinary meeting for the foreign ministers of member countries, Gambian Foreign Minister Mamadou Tangara said the assassination served only to escalate the existing tensions potentially leading to a wider conflict that could involve the whole region.
Haniyeh’s death will not quell the Palestinian cause but rather it amplifies it, highlighting the urgency for justice and human rights for the Palestinian people, Tangara, whose country currently chairs the OIC, said.
He said that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nation states are fundamental principles underpinning the world order. Respecting these principles has serious implications and their violation equally carries considerable consequences.
OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha condemned Haniyeh’s murder and the genocide committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Jerusalem.
He urged the UN Security Council to assume its responsibilities and take the necessary steps to compel Israel to respect the rule of international law and stop its aggression and attacks that threaten regional and global peace and security.
Taha said that the council should demand a comprehensive and immediate cessation of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip in order to avoid the risk of full-scale regional war that would undermine the security and stability of the whole Middle East.
Taha Emphasizes Joint Efforts
He stressed the need for joint efforts to compel Israel to abide by global legitimacy resolutions and said that the necessary steps should be taken to implement the recent advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the illegality of the Israeli occupation.
He condemned the Israeli Knesset’s resolution rejecting Palestinian statehood and its designation of UNRWA as a terrorist group.
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Taha also called for the provision of more political and financial support to UNRWA’s budget so that it can exercise its important role in providing basic services to Palestinian refugees and contribute to alleviating the humanitarian suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Taha called on key players in the global community to sponsor a political process to end Israeli occupation and achieve peace based on the vision of the two-state solution in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions.
