A summit of Islamic nations has issued a unified response to counter the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “not impressed” by the declaration.
A final communique, agreed by delegates from all 57 members from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday, called on “all countries to recognize the State of Palestine and East Jerusalem as its occupied capital.”
Wednesday’s emergency summit in Istanbul, called by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, came in response to US President Donald Trump’s recognition last week of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
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Muslim leaders “rejected and condemned” Trump’s Jerusalem announcement, saying in the declaration that they considered it to be “null and void legally.” They also invited the US president to rescind the “unlawful decision that might trigger chaos in the region.”
Trump’s announcement was “a deliberate undermining of all peace efforts” that would give impetus to “extremism and terrorism,” the declaration said.
The White House said it is still committed to reaching peace in the Middle East, and will remain “hard at work putting together our plan, which will benefit the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.”
But Erdogan told delegates that Trump’s actions meant the US could no longer be an unbiased broker.
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