Pakistan calls Gaza situation a stain on humanity’s conscience 

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan condemned the ongoing situation in Gaza, labelling it a “stain on the collective conscience of humanity”

During a statement at the resumption of the tenth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly on the situation in Palestine, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmed, reported that over 55,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including 18,000 children and 28,000 women.

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The Pakistan ambassador detailed the extensive destruction in Gaza, noting that infrastructure, including homes, hospitals, schools, cultural heritage sites and places of worships have been decimated.

He warned that the threat of famine loomed over the region and that humanitarian workers and the UN staff were being targeted relentlessly.

“This is not just a humanitarian crisis, but the downfall of humanity”, he stated; urging the international community to break its silence on the matter.

He expressed concern that the credibility of the international system, particularly the multilateral framework, was being tested.

“It is utterly absurd that the occupying Power, which is guilty of the grossest violations of international law, and its defenders, are standing in this dignified chamber blaming the rest of the world, which is the on the right side of history”, he added.

The Pakistani ambassador called for moral clarity, legal integrity, and political will; he warned that moral bankruptcy should have no place in the UN.

Ahmed stressed the increased responsibility of the UN General Assembly, the most representative and democratic body, to speak out where the Security Council has been silenced.

Referring to the resolution titled “Protecting civilians and upholding legal and humanities obligations”, adopted by the UN General Assembly the previous week, he described it as an important expression of international resolve.

Pakistan co-sponsored the initiative, which includes key points such as an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire; the release of hostages; condemnation of the use of hunger as weapon; demands for unhindered access to humanitarian assistance; and a focus on compliance with international law and accountability.

The Pakistani ambassador stated that the resolution served as a reminder of the illegal occupation and reiterated the obligations of the occupying power–Israel–under international law. He called on the international community to take immediate and effective action to ensure the implementation of these obligations.

“Pakistan’s position remains firm”, with ambassador Ahmed stating that the country called for an “immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire”, as well as the “full implementation of resolution 2735”.

The Pakistan ambassador also called for the complete lifting of the blockade of Gaza to allow free and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid and the full restoration of the role, access, and funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), rejecting any political campaign against it.

Ahmed also expressed support for ending the illegal Israeli occupation and establishing an independent, sovereign, and contiguous State of Palestine based on the pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

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The Pakistani ambassador concluded by stating that Pakistan looked forward to a high-level conference on Palestine and the two-state solution in the coming weeks, which will be co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia.

He called for a need to collaborate to ensure that the conference produced concrete results in providing a credible path for sustainable peace, the establishment of a Palestinian state, and its full membership in the United Nations.