The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned Nauru’s decision to open an embassy in Israeli-occupied al-Quds, describing the move as illegal and in violation of international law and United Nations resolutions.
In a statement on Wednesday, the OIC General Secretariat said Nauru’s move “contravenes the international position on the city’s legal and historical status.”
The statement stressed that al-Quds is “an integral part of the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967,” adding that Nauru’s decision is “null and void and illegal under international law and relevant United Nations resolutions,” particularly Security Council Resolutions 476 and 478 of 1980.
The OIC urged Nauru and all other countries that have relocated their embassies to occupied al-Quds, or announced plans to do so, to “reverse such illegal decisions and contribute to international efforts aimed at achieving peace based on the two-state solution.”
The South Pacific nation of Nauru, the world’s third-smallest country, opened its embassy in occupied al-Quds on Monday, in violation of relevant international resolutions.
The opening ceremony was attended by Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar and Nauru’s Vice President and Foreign Minister Lionel Aingimea.
“Today, Nauru becomes the ninth country, and the third from the South Pacific, to open an embassy in Jerusalem [al-Quds]. More are on the way,” Sa’ar claimed at the ceremony.
The United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Paraguay, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Somalia’s so-called breakaway region of Somaliland, which is not internationally recognized, have also opened embassies in the occupied city.
However, the vast majority of countries oppose opening embassies in occupied al-Quds.
During the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, the regime occupied East al-Quds and the West Bank. Since then, it has established 542 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, housing more than 780,000 settlers.
Israeli planning bodies have reviewed 390 structural plans for settlements in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem since October 7, 2023, alongside decisions to establish the largest possible number of settlements at 54 sites.
Palestinians seek the West Bank and Gaza as part of a future independent state, with East al-Quds as its capital.
