Doha: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has expressed profound concern regarding findings from the United Nations-supported Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirming the spread of famine throughout the Gaza Strip.
According to Qatar News Agency, the organization holds Israel, the occupying power, fully responsible for this crime and its consequences, stating it results directly from Israeli policies of starvation, illegal blockade, systematic destruction, and prevention of humanitarian access - actions that collectively constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The OIC emphasized that the famine declaration represents a global alarm regarding humanitarian, political, and legal crimes demanding urgent and unprecedented international action. It called for the activation of all international emergency mechanisms to ensure the immediate, safe, and unhindered flow of humanitarian and food assistance to save the lives of besieged civilians in Gaza.
The organization further stressed the necessity of referring the crimes of blockade and deliberate starvation perpetrated by Israeli occupation forces, which have caused famine in Gaza, to the International Criminal Court.
It urged all nations to assume their legal, political, and moral responsibilities by taking effective measures, including imposing sanctions on Israel, prohibiting the supply or transfer of weapons to it, supporting international justice mechanisms to ensure accountability, and guaranteeing compliance with international humanitarian law.
The OIC renewed its call for the international community to compel Israel, the occupying power, to immediately cease its aggression and lift its blockade on Gaza, open all border crossings, allow permanent and adequate humanitarian access, and enable UN agencies, particularly UNRWA, and all international organizations to operate without obstruction while meeting Gaza's urgent humanitarian needs.