Saudi Arabia Summons Nigeria, Other OIC Countries to Emergency Meeting on Israel-Hamas Conflict

King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia has issued a call for an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the second-largest international organization globally, comprising 57 member states spanning four continents. The OIC serves as the collective voice of the Muslim world and is set to address the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip.

According to an official statement released by the OIC on Sunday, the emergency meeting is scheduled to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on October 18 and 19, 2023. This meeting has been convened urgently in response to the escalating military situation in Gaza and the surrounding areas, which poses a threat to the lives of civilians and the overall stability of the region.

The statement reads, “At the invitation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which chairs the current session of the Islamic Summit and the Executive Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Organization’s Executive Committee is convening an urgent open-ended extraordinary meeting at the ministerial level, to address the escalating military situation in Gaza and its environs as well as the deteriorating conditions that endanger the lives of civilians and the overall security and stability of the region.”

The extraordinary meeting will be held at the General Secretariat headquarters in Jeddah Governorate on Wednesday, October 18, 2023.

The conflict in the Gaza Strip has intensified over recent weeks, with an unprecedented and coordinated land, air, and sea incursion by Hamas into Israel on October 7, resulting in the reported deaths of 1,300 Israelis. Gaza’s health ministry reports that at least 1,900 Palestinians, including 614 children and 370 women, have been killed in Israeli retaliatory strikes.

The emergency OIC meeting signals a critical effort to address this escalating crisis and seek a resolution to the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel.