Call for unconditional truce intensifies before Ramadan

Ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the 57 member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, or OIC, have adopted a joint resolution calling for the immediate and unconditional cease-fire in Gaza and resumption of international aid for refugees, as Saudi Arabia reiterated its support for a two-state solution.

It also condemned the "barbaric aggression of Israel against civilians" in the besieged Gaza Strip and "the entire Occupied Palestinian Territory" and refused what it called "the crime of genocide" as with the targeting of civilians "under any pretext and forcibly displacing them from their homes".

The meeting was held on Tuesday after the death toll breached the grim figure of more than 30,000, as violence in Israel's expanded military operations to eliminate Hamas continues five months on. This year's Ramadan starts on Sunday or Monday.

Famine looms over the Gaza Strip as aid supplies, already sharply curtailed during the conflict, have dwindled to barely a trickle. Swathes of the territory are completely cut off from food. Gaza's few functioning hospitals, already overwhelmed by the wounded, are now filling with children starving to death.

At the meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah expressed concerns over Israel's plans to scale up military operations.

"We have noticed a positive development in the positions of some countries and an understanding of the magnitude of the disaster. We have also seen an increase in the number of countries calling for an immediate cease-fire," he was quoted as saying by the Saudi Press Agency.

He also said Saudi Arabia directs its message to those countries that the time has come for them to make their decision to recognize the State of Palestine and continue to pressure Israel to stop the violence in Gaza and accept the two-state solution.

Hamas said on Wednesday that it would continue working toward achieving a cease-fire in Gaza with Israel, Reuters reported.

Negotiators from Hamas, Qatar and Egypt — but not Israel — are in Cairo trying to secure a 40-day cease-fire in the conflict.

Strong incentive

Palestinian-Israeli violence often spikes during Ramadan, as does hostility toward Israel in the Arab and Muslim world, creating a strong incentive for leaders to clinch a deal before then, the report said.

On Sunday, US Vice-President Kamala Harris demanded Hamas accept an immediate cease-fire while also urging Israel to ramp up aid deliveries into Gaza, where she said innocent people were suffering a "humanitarian catastrophe".

Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, said his agency was "at a breaking point" and had no capacity to absorb financial shocks.

UNRWA, critical for humanitarian aid in Gaza, is "functioning hand-to-mouth" after a significant funding halt, triggered by Israel's accusations against 12 UNRWA staff members of being involved in the Hamas attack, Lazzarini said.

Meanwhile, Israel has denied blocking aid and blamed aid agencies for slow delivery.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Tuesday held a discussion on preparations for Ramadan and announced that Israel's policy "has always been, and always will be", to "safeguard freedom of worship for all faiths".

Agencies contributed to this story.