Statement by the Chair of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) – 51st Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of OIC – Istanbul, 21–22 June 2025

THE 51^st SESSION OF THE COUNCIL OF FOREIGN MINISTERS   OF THE ORGANIZATION OF ISLAMIC COOPERATION (OIC)

 AMBASSADOR COLY SECK

CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE EXERCISE OF  THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE

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The Secretary-General,
Distinguished Ministers,
Excellencies,

On behalf of the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), I am honoured to address this distinguished gathering at the 51st Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

I speak with urgency and conviction. The time for rhetorical expressions of concern has passed. The devastation unfolding in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, demands decisive, principled, and coordinated action.

The Palestinian people are enduring an unprecedented suffering and humanitarian catastrophe characterized by untold death, destruction, deprivation and displacement. Israel is systematically destroying Gaza. Civilians are being starved, entire communities are flattened, families are shattered, and hope is extinguished. The Nakba has not ended; it continues in new and more brutal forms. The use of starvation as a weapon, the obstruction of humanitarian aid, targeted attacks on civilians, humanitarian personnel and critical infrastructures, including homes, hospitals and schools, are not only grave breaches of international law; they constitute crimes against humanity.

The response thus far from the international community has been inadequate. The Israeli government’s mass collective punishment, forced displacement, and dehumanizing rhetoric against the Palestinian people must be condemned, not merely in statements, but through international measures in accordance with international law obligations. The Security Council has failed to act decisively. The General Assembly has spoken, but its resolutions must now be enforced, not shelved.

The Committee calls for an urgent and unequivocal permanent ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access in accordance with international law and Security Council resolution 2735 (2024). The Security Council resolution, like General Assembly resolutions, demands the release of all hostages and arbitrarily detained persons, and for Israel to halt and reverse the displacement of Palestinians from their homeland and its illegal annexation and occupation of Palestinian territories. These are not negotiable requests; they are legal and moral imperatives.

The Committee is alarmed by the Israeli ban on UNRWA and the unilateral promotion of a new entity, the “Gaza Humanitarian Forum,” which lacks the experience and operational capacity to respond to the scale and urgency of the crisis and violates all humanitarian principles. This mechanism adds to the humanitarian catastrophe and the insecurity of the people of Gaza. Life-saving aid must reach the Palestinian people in Gaza without delay or obstruction, and the UN, including UNRWA, must be allowed to carry out its vital humanitarian work. UNRWA remains irreplaceable and must be fully restored and resourced to deliver its essential mandate.

At the same time, the two-State solution, on which there is global consensus, is being deliberately eroded by Israel, with a clear and declared intent to destroy it. The expansion of illegal settlements, growing settler violence and terror against Palestinians, and grotesque proposals to transform Gaza into a “Riviera,” while its people suffer and starve, point to an agenda aimed at permanently erasing Palestinian identity, rights and thwarting the independence of the Palestinian State.

As the Committee and its Members and Observers have warned for a long time, we are approaching a dangerous and untenable one-State reality of occupation and apartheid. The international community must act now to preserve the possibility of a just and viable two-State solution, based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine, with a shared focus on ensuring the Palestinian people’s rights to self-determination.

We must also address the wider regional implications. Israeli military actions beyond its borders, under the guise of preemptive defence, are escalating tensions across the region, risk a wider conflagration and must stop. The conflict is metastasizing. The longer the world delays, the greater the threat to regional and international peace and security. And yet, all the while, Palestinians continue to die, under an illegal occupation, under siege, and under the weight of global indifference.

The Committee regrets the postponement of the high-level International Conference on the Two-State Solution, mandated by General Assembly resolution ES-10/24, due to recent regrettable and volatile developments in the regions, which pose serious regional and international stability risks. We commend the co-chairs, France and Saudi Arabia, for their efforts to reschedule the Conference before the year’s end and urge all Member States to remain committed to its early convening and success in support of the Palestinian people. Let me remind you that there are now less than three months left for Israel to comply with the GA resolution’s call to end its illegal occupation.

In this context, the forthcoming Jerusalem Conference, jointly organized by CEIRPP and the OIC and hosted by the Government of Senegal, assumes critical importance. It is a preparatory event and a strategic platform to reassert Jerusalem’s centrality in the broader question of Palestine. It aims to propose concrete, rights-based measures for justice, accountability and peace. We urge OIC Member States to support and actively participate in this initiative.

Excellencies,

The time for action is now. The Committee calls upon OIC Member States to:

• Advocate for an urgent and permanent ceasefire to stop what amounts to a genocide against the Palestinian people, and unimpeded humanitarian access under the auspices of the United Nations.
• Mobilize coordinated diplomatic, legal, and financial support for Palestinian institutions and civil society.
• Advance international legal accountability for war crimes committed against the Palestinian people, including through the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court and universal jurisdiction mechanisms.
• Intensify high-level diplomatic engagement to secure recognition of the State of Palestine and its full membership in the United Nations.
• Consider political and economic measures and sanctions, consistent with international law, including an arms embargo and the cessation of dealings with settlements, to exert pressure on the occupying Power toward compliance and de-escalation.

More than two million Palestinians – men, women, and children – are at imminent risk. We must act now to end the siege, prevent further displacement, restore dignity, and save lives. The world must also confront the selective application of international norms and double standards that have devalued Palestinian lives and rights and helped fuel this ongoing Nakba.

Let this be the moment when the OIC helps move from words to decisive, unified action on the Palestinian question. In this regard, the Committee reaffirms its unwavering commitment to work in close partnership with the OIC and the international community to achieve a just, lasting resolution to the conflict—through the end of the Israeli occupation, the realization of two sovereign States, and a just solution for the Palestine refugees, in line with relevant UN resolutions and international law.

I thank you.