Foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states warned that Israel’s ongoing escalation in the Gaza Strip undermines the chances of reaching an urgent settlement and exposes the region’s security and stability to further risks. This was stated in the decision issued by the 21st extraordinary session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC, held on Monday at the organization’s General Secretariat headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The ministers reaffirmed all decisions issued by Islamic summits and OIC ministerial councils regarding the Palestinian cause and Jerusalem, including the recent extraordinary Arab-Islamic summit held in Riyadh on November 11, 2024, and the decisions from the 51st session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Istanbul on June 21-22, 2025, addressing the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.

The council emphasized the centrality of the Palestinian issue to the entire Islamic nation and supported the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them the right to self-determination, the return of refugees, independence, and the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital. The council strongly rejected and condemned Israel’s announcement of plans to impose full military occupation and control over Gaza and any schemes aimed at displacing the Palestinian people under any pretext. It considered this a dangerous and unacceptable escalation and an attempt to entrench illegal occupation and impose a fait accompli by force, within illegal moves threatening regional and international peace and security, in blatant violation of international law, including international humanitarian law, human rights, relevant international legitimacy resolutions, advisory opinions, and interim measures ordered by the International Court of Justice.