Foreign ministers from Muslim countries have rejected calls by US President Donald Trump to empty the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian population and instead backed a plan to create a Palestinian administrative committee to govern the territory to ensure reconstruction continues.
Meanwhile, Hamas reported “positive signals” in talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo to begin negotiations on the delayed second phase of the ceasefire deal with Israel.
Spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanua did not provide details but said the group was ready to begin talks and its delegation was discussing ways to do so.
Foreign ministers gathered in the Saudi city of Jeddah for a special session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip at a time when a seven-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is in doubt.
In a statement, the meeting expressed its support for a Gaza reconstruction plan put forward by Egypt and backed by Arab states including Saudi Arabia and Jordan, aimed at countering Mr Trump's call.
The OIC includes 57 countries with predominantly Muslim populations.
Without specifically mentioning Mr Trump, the ministers said they rejected “plans aimed at displacing the Palestinian people individually or collectively… as ethnic cleansing, a grave violation of international law and a crime against humanity.”
They also condemned the “starvation policy” which they said was aimed at forcing Palestinians to leave.
The OIC also reinstated Syria as a member of the group.
Syria was expelled from the OIC in 2012 following then-President Bashar al-Assad's brutal crackdown on opposition protests.
After 14 years of civil war, Assad was ousted in December by Islamist rebels who have since set up a transitional government.
The ceasefire, which began in mid-January, ended Israel's bombing and ground offensive campaign in the Gaza Strip aimed at destroying Hamas following its attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
The first phase of the ceasefire saw the release of 25 Israeli hostages held by militants in the Gaza Strip and the bodies of eight others in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinians held by Israel.
But the proposed second phase of the deal, which would free the remaining hostages, establish a lasting ceasefire and fully withdraw Israeli troops from Gaza, has come into question.
Israel has refused to negotiate the terms of the second phase. Instead, it has called on Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in exchange for an extension of the ceasefire and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.
Since Sunday, Israel has banned all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies from entering Gaza for some two million people, demanding Hamas accept a revised deal.
At the same time, Mr. Trump has called for the permanent resettlement of Gaza's population elsewhere so that the United States can take control of the territory and develop it for others.
Palestinians have rejected calls to leave.
Ministers at the OIC meeting backed an Egyptian-backed proposal to create an administrative committee to replace Hamas in governing the Gaza Strip.
The committee will operate under the umbrella of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. Israel has rejected the possibility of power in Gaza but has not put forward an alternative for post-war rule in the territory.
In accordance with the ceasefire agreement, Israeli forces withdrew to an area along the borders of Gaza.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah on Saturday morning.
The Israeli military said the strike hit several men who appeared to be piloting a drone that entered Israel from Gaza.
Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry did not say how many of the dead were militants.
The campaign was triggered by the October 2023 Hamas attack, in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, inside Israel and took a total of 251 hostages.
Most of them were released under ceasefire agreements or other arrangements.
Hamas is believed to still have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 34 others.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
