Muslim bloc calls for urgent cease-fire in Gaza ahead of Eid al-Fitr

By Anadolu staff

ISTANBUL (AA) – The International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) on Thursday called on the "free world" to strive for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip before the blessed Muslim festival Eid al-Fitr.

The Israeli crimes in Gaza constitute genocide and represent a serious abuse, demolishing all human values, the union said in a statement.

The statement condemned "the killing of innocents and the torture of children, women, the elderly, and scholars" in Gaza, considering it "a heinous violation of all human values.”

"We call on the free world to immediately and urgently cease fire before the Eid al-Fitr (April 10),” the statement added.

Additionally, the statement urged international human rights groups to "take immediate actions to stop the humanitarian bleeding in Gaza Strip.”

The statement also called for the opening of crossings with the enclave to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.

Israel has been pounding the Palestinian enclave since Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed around 1,200 people.

Over 33,000 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 75,700 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities. Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which last week asked it to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul