Makkah:
In a statement issued today, the Muslim World League (MWL) expressed its appreciation for the report of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which addresses the grave violations committed by the Israeli occupation forces—amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity—represented in acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip.
The statement highlighted the remarks of the Chair of the Commission, Ms. Navi Pillay, who affirmed: "We are witnessing growing evidence that Israel is conducting a systematic campaign to erase Palestinian life in Gaza. Israel’s targeting of the educational, cultural, and religious life of the Palestinian people will harm both current and future generations and obstruct their right to self-determination."
The MWL's statement underscored the significance of the Commission’s findings, including that the Israeli forces "committed war crimes involving attacks against civilians and deliberate killings through assaults on educational facilities resulting in civilian casualties." The report further affirmed that the Israeli security forces committed a crime against humanity, represented in acts of genocide, “by killing civilians who had taken refuge in schools and religious sites.”
The MWL also noted in its statement the grave and sensitive nature of the documentation presented by the Commission regarding the use of airstrikes, bombardment, arson, and deliberate demolition, which destroyed or severely damaged more than 90 percent of school and university buildings in Gaza. These acts created conditions that made it impossible to educate children—including adolescents—or for teachers to sustain their livelihoods, in addition to depriving more than 658,000 children in Gaza of access to education for over 21 months.
The Commission also announced that it had documented and investigated several instances of deliberate burning and demolition of educational facilities by the Israeli forces, and that occupation soldiers recorded and distributed video clips mocking Palestinians and Palestinian education prior to the destruction of schools and universities.
In addition, the Commission indicated that “it had found conclusive evidence that Israeli security forces seized educational facilities and used them as military bases or operational hubs, including converting them into synagogues for soldiers.”
In its statement, the MWL reaffirmed—through the words of its Secretary-General and Chairman of the Organization of Muslim Scholars, His Excellency Sheikh Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa—its strongest condemnation of these horrific violations, which have been credibly documented by the United Nations and which constitute blatant disregard for all international, legal, and humanitarian resolutions and norms, carried out with complete impunity.
His Excellency emphasized the urgent need for the international community to shoulder its legal and moral responsibilities and to take a firm and effective stance toward halting these massacres and all forms of brutal Israeli practices carried out in full view of the world. These unprecedented humanitarian atrocities against the Palestinian people constitute a grave stain on the conscience of humanity.
