The foreign ministers of the 57 Muslim-majority countries that make up the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) met this Tuesday in the Saudi city of Jeddah to discuss the war in Gaza. There they have issued a warning to the countries that maintain “complicity with the genocide” in the Strip, warning that their action will have serious diplomatic consequences. “These governments need a strong, unambiguous message from all member countries.” [de la OCI] that complicity in the genocide and its double standards will have serious diplomatic, political and economic consequences,” said the Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Riad Al Maliki.
The organization has also asked to increase funding for the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), so that they can distribute food and humanitarian aid in Gaza desperate for famine. Malnutrition – which causes irreparable wasting (morbid thinning) in young children – has never been the deadly threat it is now in the enclave, the WHO has reported.
“Before the hostilities, wasting in the Gaza Strip was rare: only 0.8% of children under five years of age suffered from acute malnutrition. The current 15.6% wasting rate among children under two years of age in northern Gaza suggests a serious and rapid decline. “Such a decline in the nutritional status of a population in three months is unprecedented worldwide,” warned Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the occupied territories.
On the other hand, the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, has called on the international community to “strongly condemn and punish” Hamas’ crimes of sexual violence after the UN endorsed yesterday in a report that there is “compelling information” to believe that The Islamist group sexually abused the hostages. The Islamist militia has denied the accusations: “It does not provide any testimony, it is based on Israeli institutions, soldiers and witnesses chosen by the occupation authorities to prove this false accusation.”
In addition, the director of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, has confirmed that his agency has recorded “hundreds” of cases of abuse reported by Palestinians who were detained in Israeli centers. : “The majority of them arrived completely traumatized by the torture.” Lazzarini has cited cases of prisoners photographed naked, victims of verbal or psychological abuse, threats of electrocution, sleep deprivation, use of dogs in an intimidating manner or being forced to wear diapers to adults for several days.
Finally, Lebanese Prime Minister Nayib Mikati has announced that negotiations to end hostilities along the Lebanese-Israeli border will begin during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins next week. The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged fire along their border for almost five months in parallel with the Gaza war.