Representatives of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the League of Arab States and the African Union met at the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah on 16 December 2025 and issued a joint statement calling for urgent action to protect Palestinians and advance the Palestine peace plan.
The three organizations described the peace plan announced by the US and signed at the Sharm El-Sheikh summit in October 2025, with Egyptian and American patronage and co-signatories Qatar and Türkiye, and affirmed its endorsement by UN Security Council resolution 2803 as a starting point to stop the bloodshed, enable unhindered humanitarian access, ensure withdrawal of Israeli forces and convene the Cairo conference to implement the Arab-Islamic Plan for Early Recovery and Reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
Delegations strongly condemned any one-way measures on the Rafah Crossing and rejected plans for forced displacement in Gaza or the West Bank as war crimes and breaches of international humanitarian law. The statement demanded that Israel permanently and securely open Rafah and other crossings to allow uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid and end the blockade and policies that have made Gaza increasingly unlivable.
Participants warned of the dangerous implications of continued occupation policies across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including settlement expansion, arbitrary arrests, annexation schemes, home demolitions and forced displacement. The joint text stressed the illegality of all settlements, called for their dismantling and the evacuation of settlers outside occupied territory, and urged the disarmament of extremist settler groups in line with Security Council resolution 904.
The meeting condemned reported abuses of Palestinian prisoners, including forced disappearance, torture and execution, and specifically raised alarm over the storming of the cell of the Palestinian leader Marwan Bargouthi by the extremist minister Ben Gvir. Delegations called for disclosure of the fate of detainees, their protection and release, and for vigorous international action to ensure accountability through the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and national tribunals.
The three organizations reaffirmed that the Palestinian Liberation Organization remains the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and urged support for the Government of the State of Palestine to assume full responsibility across the occupied territory, including Gaza. They also demanded Israel return seized Palestinian tax funds and welcomed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Emergency Coalition for Financial Sustainability announced in New York on 25 September 2025, appealing to states, including Pakistan, to join and provide financial support.
Delegations welcomed the United Nations General Assembly adoption of resolution A/80/L.1/Rev.1 endorsing the New York Declaration and the International Court of Justice advisory opinion of 25 October 2025 regarding Israel’s obligations. They stressed the importance of sustaining UNRWA following the UNGA extension of its mandate and condemned attacks and Israeli measures targeting the agency that serves millions of Palestinian refugees.
The statement also cited the Independent International Commission of Inquiry report of 16 September 2025, which found that actions in Gaza amounted to genocide, and urged immediate implementation of the commission’s recommendations. The meeting praised states that recognised the State of Palestine in September 2025 and urged other countries to follow suit and to support full UN membership as an essential pillar for the two-state solution.
Reiterating that a just and lasting peace requires the two-state solution based on the 4 June 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as the capital of a sovereign State of Palestine, the three organizations pledged to continue coordinating to implement United Nations resolutions and the New York Declaration and called on member states to take concrete steps to secure Palestinian independence, return and self-determination.
