Muslim leaders gather in Istanbul for Palestine

Istanbul: Leaders of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states arrived in Istanbul on Friday to attend an extraordinary summit, called by Turkey, in Istanbul to show solidarity with the Palestinian people and to denounce the relocation of the United States Embassy to Jerusalem, as well as the Israeli attacks that killed over 60 civilians in protests on May 14.

Representatives from more than 40 countries, including presidents, prime ministers and other high level officials took part in the event.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, Jordanian King Abdullah II, Afghan President Ashraf Gani and Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi are among the attendees.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu have been carrying out hectic phone diplomacy over the last few days to make the OIC summit a successful one with high-level participation.

Foreign ministers of the OIC member states also gathered on May 18 in Istanbul hours before the extraordinary summit.

Speaking at the Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting Preparatory to the OIC Extraordinary Islamic Summit Conference, Cavusoglu called "the shameful incidents" in Jerusalem "the final straw."

"We must ensure that the Israeli authorities and Israeli soldiers who point guns at defenseless people are held accountable," Cavusoglu said.

"As an ummah [community] in solidarity, we must give the strongest reaction to Israel's crimes against humanity," he added.   

OIC Secretary General Yousef al-Othaimeen, for his part, said in an opening speech that what Israel has done along the Gaza fence was "a war crime and a crime against humanity."

"What Israel has done is a kind of aggression that Israel should be held accountable for," he added.

Al-Othaimeen went on to endorse the call by the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for an international investigation into the recent events in Gaza. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif condemned Israel as a "brutal and rogue apartheid regime" for its recent massacre of the Palestinian people, urging a "transparent and independent" international probe into the Zionists' crimes in the occupied territories.

"In light of the massacre in Gaza, the international community is entitled to demand an end to the impunity of this brutal and rogue apartheid regime," the Iranian minister said at the meeting.

He added that the OIC should "reinforce the call for bringing the perpetrators to justice."

"We need to take concrete action in the United Nations system, including by pushing for a transparent and independent international inquiry and asking for providing international protection for the Palestinians as envisaged in international humanitarian law," Zarif pointed out.

He also stressed the importance of pressing upon the UN Security Council to live up to its primary responsibility.

At least 62 Palestinians were killed and more than 2,700 others wounded near the Gaza fence on the eve of the 70th anniversary of Nakba Day (Day of Catastrophe), which coincided this year with the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the occupied city of Jerusalem al-Quds.

The occupied territories have witnessed new tensions ever since US President Donald Trump on December 6, 2017, announced Washington's recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel's "capital" and said the United States would move the US embassy to the city.