Israel’s uncontrolled aggression toward Lebanon is bringing the region closer to war and must come to an end, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said Monday.
Speaking at the consultation meeting of the Parliamentary Union of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Switzerland, Kurtulmuş warned that Israel’s “genocidal war” against Palestinians must also end.
“We are at the height of a decades-long occupation, violence and the violation of natural rights,” Kurtulmuş said.
“The occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands must end. All hostages and detainees must be released. Access to humanitarian aid must be secured. ICJ rulings must be implemented,” Kurtulmuş listed.
“The OIC’s Parliamentary Union must support this message and these principles to draw attention to Israel’s horrible occupation and for a strong call for peace and the two-state solution,” he added, stressing that the union shouldn’t ignore the issue for the third time.
South Africa filed a case at the International Court of Justice in late 2023, accusing Israel, which has bombed Gaza since last October, of failing to uphold its commitments under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
More than 42,000 people have since been killed, most of them women and children, and over 97,700 others injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
The court in May ordered Israel to halt its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. It was the third time the 15-judge panel issued preliminary orders seeking to rein in the death toll and alleviate humanitarian suffering in the blockaded enclave.
Israel, flouting ICJ rulings and a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip.
