NEW YORK — The members of the Ministerial Committee, appointed by the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit, headed by Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan, held an official meeting in New York with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi to discuss the developments in Gaza. The members of the committee who were participating in the meeting, which took place at the United Nations Headquarters, are Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani; Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Al-Safadi; and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. Furthermore, in the meeting were, Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riad Malki; Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan; the Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi; the Secretary-General of Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit; Malaysian Foreign Minister Zambry Abdulkadir; in addition to the UAE Minister of State Khalifa Almarar, who is also the representative of the Arab group in the Security Council. The members discussed the developments in the situation in the Gaza Strip and its surroundings, as well as what was achieved by the humanitarian truce that was announced earlier in releasing some prisoners. The importance of the permanent member states of the Security Council fulfilling their responsibility to commit to protecting civilians and ensuring the application of the rules of international law and international humanitarian law was also discussed. Moreover, the members underscored the necessity of the international community taking all effective measures to ensure the securing of relief corridors, so that urgent humanitarian aid can be delivered to the Gaza Strip. The members of the committee renewed their demand for restoring the path of just, lasting and comprehensive peace. Restoring the desired path must be through implementing international resolutions related to the two-state solution, and enabling the Palestinian people to obtain their legitimate rights to establish an independent and sovereign Palestinian state along the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, the members stressed. The members also renewed their call on the international community to assume its responsibility by rejecting all forms of selectivity in applying international legal and ethical standards. They must also fulfill their responsibility to protect the Palestinians from the crimes committed by the occupation forces and settler militias against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
