The Ministerial Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) called on Monday for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, stressing the need to protect civilians and ensure the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid.

Holding its 165th meeting in Kuwait, the council condemned Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians and its siege on Gaza, while hailing the mediation efforts led by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

The council strongly condemned “the crime of genocide committed by the Israeli forces against the people of the Gaza Strip, as well as the deliberate siege policy that has led to famine in Gaza.”

It also condemned “the policies of ethnic cleansing, collective punishment, the killing of civilians and journalists, torture, field executions, forced disappearance and displacement, and looting.”

It denounced “the continued destruction of residential areas, hospitals, schools, universities, mosques, churches, and infrastructure, which aims to displace the Gaza’s inhabitants and resettle it.”

It demanded that the international community take immediate action to stop these crimes committed by the Israeli government and take serious steps to prevent them and hold perpetrators accountable.

The council reiterated “its consistent positions and previous decisions on the centrality of the Palestinian cause, emphasizing the need to end the Israeli occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and international resolutions.”

The council praised the success of the high-level international conference on settling the Palestinian issue through peaceful solutions and implementing the two-state solution.

The conference, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France, was held from July 28-30 at the United Nations headquarters. It stressed support for all efforts aimed at ending the war in the Gaza Strip and achieving a just and sustainable settlement of the Palestinian issue through the two-state solution, unifying the Gaza Strip and the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority's umbrella, and ensuring stability and security for all countries in the region.

The council confirmed its support for the Global Coalition for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution and the efforts of Saudi Arabia and the participating countries in the conference to set a timeline for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and the end of the Israeli occupation. It called on all countries that desire peace to join this initiative.

The council also commended the measures initiated by France, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Malta, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and others to recognize the State of Palestine, which confirms the international community's consensus on the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state. The council called on all countries to promptly recognize the State of Palestine to help end the Israeli occupation and fulfill the legitimate rights of the brotherly Palestinian people.