UAE strongly condemns "brutal" Israeli attack on Gaza

The UAE has condemned the "brutal" Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip, calling upon the International Community to assume its responsibilities towards the Palestinian people and intervene in order to put an end to Israel's tampering with regional and global peace and stability. In his address to the 39th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), currently held here, UAE Assistant Foreign Minister for International Organisations Affairs Saeed Mohammed Al-Shamsi said that his country supports the Arab Peace Initiative as the most practical means to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and enable the Palestinian citizens to receive their legitimate rights and establish their own independent state. In another context, Al-Shamsi affirmed that Gulf security and stability enjoy top priority in UAE's "balanced" policy, derived from the principles of the UN Charter, international law and OIC charter, especially regarding peaceful co-existence, mutual respect and trust, good neighborliness, non-interference in other countries' domestic affairs and adherence to peaceful means to solve conflicts, stressing that his country, out of its commitment to those principles, expresses deep regret over Iran's continuing occupation of its three islands and demands full sovereignty over them. He also said that all measures and procedures taken by Iran in the occupied islands are null and illegal, urging Iran to respond positively to calls for resolving the issue peacefully, through direct negotiations or referring the case to International Court of Justice. On the Syrian issue, Al-Shamsi said that his country is deeply concerned over the Syrian regime's escalation and killing of innocent citizens, urging the international community to assume its humanitarian and political responsibilities. He also asserted that the crisis in Syria can be solved only through a transfer of power, voicing support for the newly-formed National Coalition for the Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as a legitimate representative of the Syrian people. Al-Shamsi also requested the International Community to take the necessary actions and urge the Myanmar government to put an end to the persecution and human rights violations against the Rohingya Muslim minority.