Oman Participates in OIC Extraordinary Session to Discuss Israeli Aggression Against Palestinian PeopleJeddah, 25 Aug (ONA) – The Sultanate of Oman today took part in an extraordinary session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)’s member states. Held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the meeting aimed to discuss the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah Al Qatabi, Head of the International Organizations Department at the Foreign Ministry, who headed the Sultanate of Oman’s delegation, stressed the need for an immediate, comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. He also laid emphasis on rejecting the policy of collective punishment practised by the Israeli occupation authorities and on the importance of allowing the entry of humanitarian aid without any restrictions or conditions. The speech reiterated the call to halt the systematic policy of starvation that the Israeli authorities exercise against innocent civilians. It also called for opening all crossings to supply necessary aid to those who deserve it.Al Qatabi added that the Sultanate of Oman’s position remains steadfast in supporting the Palestinian cause and backing the Palestinian people’s access to their legitimate rights further obstructed due to the ongoing Israeli aggression, which, he affirmed, has led to continued humanitarian tragedies, including siege, destruction of homes and facilities, displacement and deprivation from basic needs.Al Qatabi pointed that “Israel has imposed an illegal occupation by force and is seeking to impose Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank and to exercise complete military control over the Gaza Strip, while at the same time forcibly displacing the residents of the Gaza Strip, depriving them of the most basic human rights— including water, food and medical care— and escalating violations and repeated incursions.”He also affirmed the Sultanate of Oman’s condemnation and denunciation of the plans of settlement and all illegal measures undertaken by the Israeli occupation forces, noting that those atrocious actions constitute a flagrant violation of international legitimacy and related United Nations resolutions. He added that the pursuance of these practices would exacerbate the humanitarian tragedy and undermine the chances of achieving a just and lasting peace.Al Qatabi expressed the Sultanate of Oman’s categorical rejection of attempts to forcibly displace the population of the Gaza Strip, deemed a crime that contravenes international humanitarian law. He called on the international community to assume its responsibilities by obligating Israel to halt this ongoing aggression against the West Bank and Gaza Strip and to protect Palestinian civilians.Al Qatabi explained that the Sultanate of Oman stresses the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to establish their independent, sovereign state along the borders of 4 June 1967, with Al Quds A’Sharqiyah (East Jerusalem) as its capital, in accordance with international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.“Oman hereby reiterates its support for the outcomes of the Palestine Summit and the Gaza Reconstruction Plan adopted in Cairo, as well as the Conference on the Peaceful Settlement of the Palestinian Issue and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, held in New York under the joint chairmanship of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the French Republic—the conference whose final statement included an agreement to take tangible steps to resolve the Palestinian issue,” said Al Qatabi.— Ends/Bishara