The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has vehemently condemned what it calls “organised terrorism and daily crimes committed by extremist settler gangs under the protection of Israeli forces in the West Bank.”
In a statement released on Friday, the OIC deplored the horrific attack on the village of Jit east of Qalqilya, which involved random shooting at civilians and the destruction and burning of their properties, homes, vehicles, and agricultural lands, resulting in the death and injury of dozens.
The OIC described these acts as an extension of “the open Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, their land, and their holy sites,” constituting a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.
The organization holds the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the ongoing crimes.
Furthermore, the OIC urged the international community, particularly the United Nations Security Council, to take responsibility for providing international protection to the Palestinian people and to ensure an immediate and comprehensive halt to the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The organization also renewed its call for the international community to compel Israel to dismantle all colonial settlements and their terrorist militias in the occupied Palestinian territories, to lift political and legal protections from them, and to classify them as terrorist organizations, aiming to end the illegitimate colonial occupation system in the State of Palestine.
During the attack, about 100 armed settlers stormed the village of Jit, burning vehicles, homes, and farmlands, and opening fire on civilians, which resulted in the death of a young man and critically wounded two others.
Top officials in Israel have condemned the attack, and the Israeli military stated that its forces intervened, dispersed the invaders, extracted them, and arrested one.
The military has opened an investigation, in cooperation with the Shin Bet and security forces, into reports of a Palestinian being killed in the village.
The statement condemned such incidents and those who disrupt security, law, and order, distracting the defense forces and security agencies from their primary mission of thwarting terrorism and protecting the security of the populace.
