ISLAMABAD: The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, led the Pakistan delegation at the open-ended Extraordinary Ministerial Session of the OIC Executive Committee to consider the illegal decisions of the Israeli occupation forces aimed at bolstering settlement and annexation, and attempting to impose Israeli sovereignty over the Occupied West Bank. Pakistan Permanent Representative to the OIC, Ambassador Fawad Sher, also accompanied the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister at the Extraordinary Session. According to a Foreign Office statement, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister strongly condemned the latest illegal measures by Israel to convert areas of the occupied West Bank into so-called state property. He highlighted Pakistan’s efforts, as an elected member of the UN Security Council, as a part of the Group of Eight Arab and Islamic countries and a member of the Board of Peace, in advancing the Palestinian cause. In view of the gravity of the situation, he urged the OIC to collectively work to ensure an immediate reversal of all Israeli measures aimed at de facto annexation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory; full implementation of Security Council resolution 2803, including strict adherence to the ceasefire in Gaza; immediate commencement of reconstruction of Gaza, with full Palestinian ownership and a central role of the Palestinian Authority; and a time-bound political horizon leading to the establishment of an independent, sovereign, and contiguous State of Palestine on the basis of the 1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, in accordance with relevant UN resolutions. He urged the OIC to collectively ensure the immediate reversal of all Israeli measures aimed at the de facto annexation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the West Bank, which constitutes a red line for any just resolution of the Palestine issue. He stressed the need to ensure full respect for and protection of the historic and legal status quo at all holy sites, including the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque. He also called for an immediate end to all forms of displacement, demographic manipulation, and collective punishment of Palestinian brothers and sisters throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory. He stated that the OIC must call for the full and faithful implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2803, including strict adherence to the ceasefire in Gaza and the immediate commencement of Gaza’s reconstruction and recovery, with full Palestinian ownership and a central role for the Palestinian Authority. Ishaq Dar also called for accountability for war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law, as well as a credible, irreversible, and time-bound political process leading to the establishment of an independent, sovereign, and contiguous State of Palestine on the basis of the 1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, in accordance with relevant UN and OIC resolutions. On the sidelines of the extraordinary session, the Deputy Prime Minister/ Foreign Minister held bilateral/ pull-aside meetings with the Foreign Ministers of Bangladesh, Maldives and Palestine, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkiye and the State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Somalia. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026