JEDDAH: The heinous killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh risks tipping the Middle East into “wider conflict”, the chair of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) told a meeting on Wednesday.

The comments from Gambian Foreign Minister Mamadou Tangara came as a senior Iranian official said during the meeting that the Islamic republic would need to defend itself from Israel, which it blames for Haniyeh’s death last week in Tehran.

Iranian and Palestinian officials called for Wed­nesday’s gathering of the 57-member OIC in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah, saying the body needed to respond to the killing of the Hamas leader.

“This heinous act serves only to escalate the existing tensions potentially leading to a wider conflict that could involve the entire region,” said Tangara, whose country currently chairs the OIC.

Haniyeh’s killing “will not quell the Palestinian cause but rather it amplifies it, underscoring the urgency for justice and human rights for the Pales­tinian people”, he said. “The sovereignty and territorial integrity of nation states are fundamental principles underpinning the international order.

“Respecting these principles has profound implications and their violation equally carries significant consequences.”

Israel has not commented on Haniyeh’s death, which Iran has vowed to avenge.

“Currently, in the absence of any appropriate action by the (UN) Security Council against the aggressions and violations of the Israeli regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran has no choice but to use its inherent right to legitimate defence against the aggressions of this regime,” Ali Bagheri, Iran’s acting foreign minister, told the OIC.

Hamas’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah has also pledged to retaliate for Haniyeh’s killing and that of its military commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike in Beirut hours earlier.

Wednesday’s meeting was far from the first time the bloc has weighed in on the conflict, which began with Hamas’s October 7 raids in southern Israel.

That operation led to bombardment of Gaza by Israel and the deaths of almost 40,000 people, mostly civilians, .

In addition to issuing regular statements condemning civilian deaths in Gaza, OIC leaders gathered with their counterparts from the Arab League in November for a summit that condemned Israeli forces’ barbaric actions in Gaza.

Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar met Malaysia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad on the sidelines of the OIC meeting.

The two foreign ministers noted the positive trajectory of bilateral relations and robust cooperation in diverse fields.

They renewed their commitment to bilateral trade and investment, educational linkages, capacity building of workforce, and people-to-people contacts, the Foreign Office said.

The two ministers reaffirmed their commitment to OIC’s principles of solidarity, cooperation and mutual support.

Meanwhile, Mr Dar tweeted that he met Iran Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani on the sidelines of a meeting of the executive committee of the OIC in Jeddah.

They discussed bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest, with focus on developments in the Middle East.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2024