RIYADH: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation condemned on Monday the ongoing Israeli colonial practices, particularly the confiscation of thousands of acres of Palestinian land.
The Jeddah-based organization said the latests of these practices was ceasing archeological sites in Sebastia village in the West Bank.
The OIC said that these practices fall within Israel’s discriminative policy against hundreds of archaeological, historical, scientific and religious sites in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem.
Israel is trying to “erase and destroy the cultural and civilizational heritage of the Palestinian people,” the organization said, adding that these actions are a flagrant violation of a number of international laws and conventions.
The OIC called on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to take immediate action to safeguard the tangible and intangible cultural assets in the occupied Palestinian territory.
In early July, Israel approved the largest seizure of land in the occupied West Bank in over three decades, an anti-settlement watchdog group said, a move that could further worsen already soaring tensions linked to the ongoing war in Gaza.
Peace Now said authorities recently approved the appropriation of 12.7 square kilometers (nearly 5 square miles) of land in the Jordan Valley. The group’s data indicate it was the largest single appropriation approved since the 1993 Oslo accords at the start of the peace process.
