Tehran — The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has issued one of its harshest statements in years, denouncing Israel’s newly declared plan to fully occupy the Gaza Strip as nothing short of an escalation of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The bloc of 57 Muslim-majority nations described the move as a deliberate strategy to erase Palestinian presence from their homeland under the guise of “security.”
The OIC warned that the decision would forcibly displace nearly one million Palestinians, including more than 900,000 residents of Gaza City, to the already overcrowded “Mawasi” area west of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. Humanitarian experts have long warned that such population transfers under military occupation meet the legal definition of ethnic cleansing, a crime under international law.
Diplomats within the OIC accused Israel of mocking international institutions such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), noting that the occupation plan directly violates United Nations resolutions and multiple legally binding orders issued by the ICJ. The condemnation came as images of bombed-out neighborhoods, mass graves, and children buried under rubble continued to circulate across global media, deepening outrage over what many see as an unpunished genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
Jassem Mohammed al-Badawi, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, echoed the OIC’s statement, branding Israel’s actions as “a reckless assault on every norm of civilized conduct.” He further warned that such a move would not only destroy any prospect for a two-state solution but would also destabilize the broader Middle East, potentially fueling more conflict from Lebanon to Yemen.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baqaei, was even more direct, calling the Israeli decision “evidence of premeditated genocide” and urging the Islamic world to treat the occupation plan as an existential threat to Palestine. He demanded that Islamic member states mobilize politically, economically, and even militarily if necessary, to halt Israel’s aggression.
Regional analysts say the timing of Israel’s announcement, coming amid the War in Ukraine, shifting global alliances, and the rise of the BRICS currency as a challenge to Western dominance, is a calculated move to exploit geopolitical distraction. Israel, emboldened by decades of unconditional US protection, appears to believe it can defy global opinion without consequence. Critics note that Washington’s silence on the matter underscores the hypocrisy of the US, which lectures other nations about human rights while financing the very military operations that commit atrocities in Gaza.
According to Mehr News, the OIC has formally called for an emergency session to coordinate collective measures against Israel’s occupation plan, including potential sanctions, diplomatic isolation, and legal action at the ICC. The report stressed that failure to act would signal to Tel Aviv, and its backers in Washington, that the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza can proceed without resistance.
