JEDDAH — Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan reiterated that the Islamic countries roundly reject displacement of any Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. In his presidential speech at the Extraordinary Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC-CFM) in Jeddah on Tuesday, Prince Faisal reaffirmed that the time has come to recognize the State of Palestine and accept the two-state solution. The OIC session is being convened to discuss the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza. The minister renewed the 57-member pan Islamic body's categorical rejection of the forced displacement of the Palestinian people and stressed the importance of allowing the immediate and safe return of the displaced. "Israeli plans to expand military operations towards Rafah will only bring more suffering to the unarmed civilians targeted in the Gaza Strip," he said. Prince Faisal said that Saudi Arabia, through its direct bilateral contacts with most countries of the world, and through its role within the ministerial committee formed by the extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit, called on all international parties and the international community to assume its responsibilities in stopping the war and irresponsible escalation, protecting innocent civilians, and preventing forced displacement of civilians. "We saw a positive development in the positions of some countries and an understanding of the scale of the disaster, and we saw an increase in the number of countries calling for an immediate ceasefire. We also heard from a number of countries about their readiness in principle to recognize the State of Palestine. In this regard, we direct our message to those countries that the time has come to make their decision to recognize the State of Palestine, and to continue pressure on Israel to stop the war in Gaza and accept the two-state solution," he said. Prince Faisal underlined the need to impose sanctions against extremist Jewish settlers in the West Bank is a positive thing. He also called for holding accountable those who are responsible for the violence in the West Bank. In his speech, Prince Faisal pledged support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). He warned against attempts to make irrelevant the UN agency's key humanitarian role. "Targeting UNRWA at this time would harm innocent civilians in Gaza and exacerbate the suffering of the Palestinian people. The Kingdom will continue its support for UNRWA," he said while urging all supporters to play their role in reinforcing humanitarian missions towards Palestinian refugees inside the besieged Gaza Strip. Prince Faisal called on the countries that suspended their support to rescind this decision, given the importance of the agency continuing to perform its tasks in a way that ensures the provision of basic requirements for the Palestinians, to mitigate the effects of the humanitarian crisis. The minister also renewed the necessity of ending the suffering and providing hope to the Palestinian people and enabling them to obtain their rights to live in safety and self-determination through a reliable and irreversible path to establish their Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and relevant international resolutions.
