Istanbul: The Gaza Conference concluded Friday at Hagia Sophia Mosque with an Istanbul Declaration in which scholars from over 50 countries affirmed support for Palestinians' right to resist Israeli occupation. The declaration, issued after eight days of deliberations by around 200 scholars and religious leaders from over 50 countries, rejected efforts to delegitimize the Palestinian armed struggle.
According to Anadolu Agency, the conference delegates expressed a firm stance against the weaponization of resistance and rejected any efforts to abandon what they termed the legitimate right of the Palestinian people. Participants traveled by sea from Democracy and Freedom Island to Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque for Friday prayers, where key figures like Ali Erbas, head of Trkiye's Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) President Ali Muhyiddin al-Qaradaghi, and Nasrullah Hacimuftuoglu, president of the Foundation for Islamic Scholars in Trkiye, delivered their opening speeches and the final declaration.
The declaration included readings in Arabic by al-Qaradaghi and in Turkish by Hacimuftuoglu. It opened with a Qur'anic verse granting the oppressed the right to retaliate, framing Gaza's plight as a collective obligation, declaring it a religious and human responsibility. Organizers cited the conference as a response to ongoing massacres in Gaza and international inaction, with Qaradaghi likening it to a revival of Hilf al-Fudul, an ancient alliance for justice.
The Istanbul Declaration outlined measures for political, humanitarian, and legal mobilization. These measures included establishing committees to engage heads of state and monitor the implementation of outcomes. It also called for allocating a minimum of 2% of annual profits from Muslim-owned financial and economic institutions to Gaza aid through legal and transparent mechanisms. Additionally, it demanded the termination of political and commercial cooperation with Israel and encouraged global participation in sea convoys to break the blockade.
The declaration also emphasized legal accountability, urging prosecutions of war crimes both internationally and domestically. It called for immediate prosecution of perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and urged Western governments, particularly the US, to withdraw support for Israel, advocating for a humane and ethical stance against the war crimes committed in Gaza.
Although the conference officially ended on Friday, scholars insisted it marked the beginning of ongoing efforts rather than a conclusion. The declaration emphasized the continuation of work to uphold Islamic and humanitarian responsibilities.
The International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) and the Foundation for Islamic Scholars in Trkiye jointly organized the conference, titled Islamic and Humanitarian Responsibility: Gaza. It brought together over 150 scholars and representatives from more than 50 countries to discuss Israel's ongoing war in Gaza and the Muslim world's response. The event began on August 22 with prayers at Istanbul's Eyup Sultan Mosque and included a series of workshops on humanitarian aid and political mobilization before concluding with the Istanbul Declaration.