UPDATES WITH PAKISTAN, MALDIVES STATEMENTS, CHANGES HEADER, LEDE AND DECK
By Aamir Latif
ANKARA (AA) – Leaders of Malaysia, Pakistan and the Maldives on Monday demanded an immediate end to “systematic genocide” in Gaza and “decades of terror” against Palestinians, at the Extraordinary Islamic Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, in his address, called for the urgency to “effectively and permanently” end Israel’s genocidal actions against the Palestinians in Gaza.
There is a “crisis of humanity” has been unfolding in Gaza, he added.
He urged the OIC member states and the international community to address the “plight and sufferings” of the Palestinians.
- Humanitarian crisis in Gaza ‘beyond imagination’
In his address, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif observed that the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza is "beyond imagination."
Describing Israel’s brutalities against Palestinians as tantamount to “systematic genocide,” he noted that the world is watching in “criminal silence.”
Sharif demanded an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon, recapitulating Islamabad’s unwavering support for the creation of an independent Palestine state based on pre-1967 borders and with Jerusalem as its capital.
-‘Time to act decisively’
Maldives’ President Mohamed Muizzu, in his remarks, urged the Muslim world to act “decisively” on Gaza.
“If we, as an Ummah, don’t act decisively now, history will judge us harshly," he warned, calling for the summit to be a turning point for unity and meaningful change.
Muizzu stressed that the “decades of terror and injustice” against the Palestinians must end.
Israel has continued a devastating offensive on Gaza since an attack last year by Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
More than 43,600 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 102,900 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.