Tehran: A high-level parliamentary meeting among the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was held Wednesday in Iran’s capital Tehran to discuss the Palestine issue, according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA).

Themed “Cooperation of Parliaments for Palestine,” the 5th Extraordinary Meeting of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Members States (PUIC) Standing Committee on Palestine was attended by the speakers and members of the parliaments of a number of Muslim and Asian states, the report said.

The PUIC was established in Iran in 1999, with its head office in Tehran.

Speaking at the meeting, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Palestinians have the right to self-defense and restore their rights.

He said the Palestinian situation is a clear instance of the “hypocritical and deviant policies of the United States and its Western allies in supporting Israeli aggression and bloodshed and denying the historical and civilizational realities of Palestine,” according to Iran’s official news agency IRNA.

Meanwhile, Speaker of the People’s National Assembly of Algeria Ibrahim Boughali called for the immediate cessation of the conflict in Gaza, stressing that Israel was continuing its “war crimes against the defenseless (Palestinian) people and has violated (international) agreements,” the ISNA reported.

Also at the meeting, Speaker of the People’s Assembly of Syria Hammoudeh Sabbagh affirmed that “we are standing by the Palestinian people and will defend them.”

The meeting was also attended by parliament members from Iraq, Indonesia, Bahrain, Mauritania, Qatar, Morocco, Türkiye, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Mali, Chad, Malaysia, Oman, Kuwait, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Lebanon and Burkina Faso.

At the end of the meeting, the participants issued a joint statement, stressing the need to end the conflict in Gaza and reaffirming their all-out support for the Palestinian people, according to the ISNA report.

Israel has been fighting with Hamas in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, after the group launched a surprise attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people. The Israeli troops have so far killed 23,357 Palestinians in the enclave, said the Gaza-based Health Ministry on Wednesday.