Saudi Gazette report

CAIRO — The Arab foreign ministers on Thursday called for an international probe into alleged crimes by Israeli forces against Palestinians following mass protests on the Gaza border that resulted in the killing of dozens of demonstrators.

In a resolution adopted at the end of the extraordinary session of the Council of Arab Foreign Ministers at the headquarters of the Arab League, the ministers instructed the Arab League General Secretariat to act quickly to form an independent international commission of experts to investigate the crimes and massacres committed by the Israeli occupation forces against demonstrators in the Gaza Strip. They called for a clear mechanism to hold Israeli officials accountable and bring them to trial over this crime.

The meeting, chaired by Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir, mandated the General Secretariat to prepare an integrated plan that includes appropriate means and methods that can be employed to contain the decision of US or any other state to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel or to transfer its embassy to it, as well as to circulate this plan among member states within two weeks from adoption of the resolution.

This decision contained in a resolution entitled “Confronting the US act of transferring its embassy to the occupied city of Jerusalem, and condemning the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces in Palestine.”

The ministers reiterated the rejection and condemnation of the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and considered the transfer of its embassy as a dangerous precedent that threatens international peace and security as well as an aggression against the rights of the Palestinian people and to provoke the feelings of the Arab, Islamic and Christian nations.

They condemned the participation of some countries in the official opening ceremony of the transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem and considered it as encouraging illegal acts at the international level. They also denounced Guatemala’s transfer of embassy to Jerusalem.

The ministers thanked the countries and organizations that took positions rejecting the American decision on Jerusalem and supporting a just and comprehensive peace that meets the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people in accordance with international laws.

The meeting also called on the international community to immediately intervene to ensure the international protection of Palestinian civilians from the crimes of the Israeli occupation forces and to demand that the Security Council enforces its relevant resolutions to protect civilians.

Earlier, addressing the session, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit called for an international investigation into the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces on the borders of the Gaza Strip over the past few days, which resulted in the deaths of more than 60 Gazans, stressing that the transfer of embassies to Jerusalem is detrimental to peace, and undermines the moral and legal legitimacy of the international system as a whole.

“We are facing a state of blatant aggression against international law and legitimacy which was embodied by the US embassy’s transfer to the occupied city of Jerusalem,” said Aboul Gheit.

He called on various countries to maintain the state of international consensus rejecting the American move. Aboul Gheit called on the international community, represented by the Security Council, to act as soon as possible to protect the Palestinians and stop the indiscriminate killing of them by the Israeli occupation forces.

The session was held upon the request of Saudi Arabia to discuss ways on how to confront the transfer of US embassy to Jerusalem in flagrant violation of international law and resolutions of international legitimacy and to come out with a unified position to deal with the escalating Israeli aggression against the unarmed Palestinian people.