ISLAMABAD – Pakistan, as chairman of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and over 90 countries has expressed concerns at Israel’s punitive measures against the Palestinian people, leadership and civil society.
All the countries have signed a joint statement, calling for the reversal of the measures – a same demand made by some 40 countries at the United Nations on Monday.
Last month, the UN General Assembly approved a landmark resolution requesting the Hague-based International Court of Justice to give its opinion on the legality of Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem.
On Monday, a spokesperson of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he “notes with deep concern the recent Israeli measures against the Palestinian Authority” and that there should “be no retaliation with respect to the Palestinian Authority in relation to the International Court of Justice.“
Palestine’s U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour hailed the statement of support, saying that “we exercised our democratic rights to go to the General Assembly in a peaceful way, a legal way, and put a question to the ICJ to seek an advisory opinion.”
