Pakistan demands accountability for Israel’s crimes in Gaza

New York: Pakistan has once again reaffirmed its unwavering solidarity and support for the Palestinian people, calling for Israel to be brought to justice for its actions.

Addressing a United Nations Security Council session on the situation in the Middle East and the Palestinian question, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar highlighted Israel’s war crimes and called for international accountability.

Dar reiterated that Pakistan stands firmly with the Palestinian people and remains committed to their just cause.

He said that the Palestinian people are enduring unimaginable suffering, an unbearable daily toll of human lives, the destruction of homes and neighbourhoods, and the obliteration of essential infrastructure.

He said that the humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached catastrophic proportions as famine was now a reality in Gaza City, putting over half a million people at grave risk.

The deputy prime minister told the UNSC that the dozens of Palestinians were killed each day and 300,000 people had been uprooted and nearly one million faced imminent displacement.

“The roar of fighter jets, the plumes of smoke from tank fire and the collapse of buildings. What must this relentless violence mean for women, children and the most vulnerable? And what of the hostages caught in the crossfire whose lives hang in the balance?”

“The time for action is upon us,” he said and called for urgent and concrete measures including immediate unconditional and permanent ceasefire, full unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza and the immediate lifting of the blockade to allow life-saving aid, and a categoric end to any forced displacement of Palestinians from the lands.

Ishaq Dar reaffirmed Pakistan’s unwavering support for the Palestinian people in their just struggle for dignity, justice and self-determination through the establishment of a sovereign, independent and contiguous Palestinian state on pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds al Sharif as its capital.

He welcomed the two-state solution conference shared by France and Saudi Arabia and also appreciated the recent recognitions of the state of Palestine by numerous member states.

“The time for words has passed. The time for action is now,” he concluded.