The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulla Shahid (O.D.R.I.), called for urgent action to ease the suffering of the Palestinian people while delivering his remarks during the Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The summit was held on Saturday, to discuss the brutal Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people. The Foreign Minister is attending this summit as the Special Envoy of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
In his remarks, Foreign Minister Shahid strongly condemned the ongoing Israeli military aggression against the civilians of Palestine and stressed the need to establish an immediate ceasefire.
Reflecting on the worsening humanitarian situation, he called for support to ensure essential supplies such as food and medicine enter Gaza safely. He further called on the international community to expend every effort in preventing the collective punishment of the people of Gaza, which is in contravention of international humanitarian law.
He reiterated that the path to lasting peace and stability in Palestine, and the Middle East as a whole, lies in the establishment of an independent state of Palestine, based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Extraordinary Summit will conclude with the adoption of the “Resolution of The Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit to discuss the Israeli Aggression Against the Palestinian People in the Gaza Strip and Throughout the Palestinian Territory, including Al-Quds Al-Sharif”.
The Resolution serves as an expression of a unified position of the Member States to end all illegal Israeli practices that perpetuate the occupation and deprive the Palestinian people of their rights.
This Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit was convened by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, combining the previously planned Extraordinary Islamic Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Emergency Arab Summit. The OIC, comprising of 57 Member States, has been a constant voice for the Palestinian people. The Maldives has been an active member of the OIC since becoming a member in 1976.
