OIC FM’s slam Israel’s 'ruthless aggression'
Syrian President Assad meets Iran's security chief
Foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference opened their meeting on the Gaza violence on Saturday by slamming Israel's "ruthless aggression" and urging a ceasefire.
O.I.C Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told ministers gathered in Jeddah of the need for all parties "within and beyond Palestine to put aside political calculations and act toward stemming the bloodshed and enable the population of the Gaza Strip to at least maintain living conditions, however harsh they are.
"Therefore, we call strongly for an immediate ceasefire and for medical and humanitarian supplies to be allowed into the Gaza Strip through all crossings," he said in a statement.
Ihsanoglu said he was seeking to coordinate "an Islamic move to protect the Palestinian people from Israel's ruthless aggression and secure their urgent needs."
He also stressed the need for various Palestinian factions and parties to launch a national dialogue and end their divisions.
Ihsanoglu also urged the O.I.C, whose 57 member states act as a collective voice of the Muslim world, to consider calling an emergency meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council to seek an end to the Israeli attacks on Palestinians, the statement said.
Iran security chief meets Assad
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday met Iran's Supreme National Security Council chief Saeed Jalili to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip, the official SANA news agency reported.
It said Jalili, who arrived in Damascus on Friday night, and Assad held talks on "the dangerous situation the Palestinian people of Gaza are going through because of the Israeli aggression."
They discussed the "consequences on security and stability in the region of the Israel's aggression continuing" and "ways Islamic countries can force Israel to immediately stop the massacres against the Palestinian people, end the Gaza blockade and open the crossing points," SANA reported.
Jalili told Assad of "Iran's commitment to cooperation and coordination with Syria on Gaza," it added.
The Iranian security supremo also met the Islamist Hamas movement's exiled political chief Khaled Meshaal and Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Abdullah Shallah after he arrived on Friday, a Palestinian source said. Both men are based in Damascus.
Iran is a staunch supporter of the Islamist Hamas movement, which controls Gaza, and does not recognize its arch foe Israel which has bombarded the Hamas stronghold in Gaza for the past seven days.