Iyad Ameen Madani, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), asked Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon to visit the Gaza Strip during his current tour of the region in order to observe first hand the severe damage to innocent human lives, the destructions of homes and infrastructure caused by the unrelenting Israeli raids on Gaza, that have also claimed the lives of hundreds of mostly defenseless Palestinian elderly and children. In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the OIC Secretary General reiterated his strong condemnation of the continued Israeli's raids on the Gaza Strip. Madani expressed his grave concern over Israel's intention to launch a ground invasion of Gaza, warning of the disastrous consequences and devastating effects against Palestinian civilians such an invasion will cause. The Secretary General called on the UN Security Council to issue a resolution that clearly condemns Israeli aggressions; and for the permanent member states of the UNSC to shoulder their moral responsibilities by not opposing resolutions that would bring to an immediate halt the continuation of Israeli aggression. Madani stressed the importance of the resolutions of the Extraordinary Meeting of the Executive Committee, which was held at the level of OIC Foreign Ministers in Jeddah, July 10, 2014, on the situation in Gaza. The meeting had called for the constitution of an international legal team in the OIC to conclude and follow up the criminal cases of Israeli leaders at the International Criminal Court; and complete the State of Apartheid case against the current Israeli government.
