By IINA,
Jeddah : The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu welcomed the adoption of a resolution by the UN Security Council on the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip. He stated that although the Security Council has passed the resolution belatedly two weeks after the launch of the onslaught on Gaza, causing hundreds of casualties, leaving thousands injured, and wreaking massive destruction on property and civic facilities, and even though the resolution does not address some major issues related to the Israeli aggression, notably the need for Israel to immediately pull out from the Gaza Strip and the need for Israel to respect human rights and international humanitarian law; still, the resolution represents a step in the right direction, but it requires to be implemented immediately, he said in a statement.
Prof. Ihsanoglu called on the UN Security Council to follow up on the implementation of the resolution and to ensure that all concerned parties abide by it and that Israel demonstrates commitment to stopping its aggression, withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, lifting the siege imposed on Gaza, opening the crossings, and allowing humanitarian assistance to cross into Gaza. The Secretary General emphasized that the UN General Assembly could play a major role by resuming its Tenth Emergency Special Session on Palestine. He added that the special session called for by the President of the General Assembly should review the implementation of the Security Council resolution and pinpoint the aspects the resolution failed to address.
Prof. Ihsanoglu also condemned Israel for attacking humanitarian relief teams, personnel from the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, staff from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), precluding them from conducting their humanitarian mission. He pointed out that the OIC is currently deploying strenuous efforts to deliver urgent humanitarian assistance to the victims of the Israeli aggression. He mentioned that a high-level delegation from the OIC General Secretariat was dispatched to Cairo, Egypt, to conduct consultations with the Egyptian government on the proper mechanisms to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip.