Maldives has stated Israel's disproportionate use of force against civilians has gone unimpeded too frequently and such actions undermine the United Nations and directly negates the global efforts to achieve lasting peace in the region.
Speaking at the 7th Extraordinary Summit Conference of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which convened in Istanbul, Turkey, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives Dr. Mohamed Asim strongly objected to the decision of U.S. to move its Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and urged member states of OIC to actively engage with countries that are considering moving their diplomatic missions to Jerusalem, with a view to dissuade them from doing so. The Foreign Minister also underlined the long standing position of Maldives, unequivocally supporting the establishment of an independent and sovereign state of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the Palestinian lands with pre-1967 borders, living side by side with Israel.
Furthermore, Maldives co-sponsored a resolution that was tabled in the Special Session of the Human Rights Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry to look into the violence in Gaza. A large number of heads of state and government, including Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, King Abdullah II of Jordan and Kuwaiti Amir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah participated the summit meeting.
The summit condemned criminal actions of Israeli forces against the Palestinian in the occupied territory while calling on the International Community to uphold its legal obligations to defend the international law and order as they relate to Palestine. The summit further condemned inauguration of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and called upon all member states to openly condemn such action to pursue all available legal and diplomatic avenues to defend Palestinian rights from all hostile and illegal actions and to support decisions adopted recently by the Palestinian Leadership to advance the Palestinian rights.