OIC meeting: Bangladesh urges pragmatic action to end Israeli aggression in Gaza

Bangladesh has called upon the Muslim world to take pragmatic and united steps to halt Israeli military aggression and genocide against the Palestinian people.

Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain made the appeal while addressing the Extraordinary Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held in Jeddah today (25 August), said a press release.

"It is high time we transformed our legal and moral commitments into concrete actions to stop the Israeli military aggression and genocide against the people of Palestine," Adviser Touhid said in his intervention.

Referring to recent signals of recognition of Palestinian statehood by several Western countries, he observed that this was "the least they could do" to acknowledge the crimes against humanity committed by the occupying Israeli forces.

Reaffirming Bangladesh's unwavering support for Palestine's just struggle for self-determination and freedom, the adviser called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza, and a credible, irreversible path to a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.

He further pledged that Bangladesh would extend unconditional support to any initiative by the OIC or the wider Muslim Ummah aimed at ensuring the emancipation of the Palestinian people.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Adviser Touhid held talks with Gambian Foreign Minister, where they discussed the International Court of Justice (ICJ) case against Myanmar regarding the Rohingya crisis. Both sides agreed to hold the next round of foreign office consultations in Dhaka, while the Gambian minister expressed his intention to visit the Rohingya camps soon.

Additional Foreign Secretary M Forhadul Islam and Bangladesh's Permanent Representative to the OIC MJH Jabed accompanied the adviser at the meeting and side events.