UNHRC approves Pakistan’s resolution condemning Israeli actions in Gaza

GENEVA: The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) approved and then passed Pakistan’s resolution condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza, with 28 member states voting in favour.

During the latest session of the UNHRC, Pakistan decided to propose a resolution condemning Israel. While 28 member states voted in favour, six member states were against, and over 13 abstained.

The resolution called for a halt in arms sales to Israel and outlined concerns about the genocide presently going on in Gaza. According to Gaza health ministry, 33,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since the war began in October 2023.

Pakistan proposed the resolution on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states, the resolution also demanded an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian access to Gaza.

It received strong criticism from Israel’s ambassador, who deemed it a “stain” on the UN, while Palestinian and South African ambassadors urged action against Israeli actions.

On the UNHRC’s website, the council detailed adopting “five resolutions” including one demanding “Israel immediately lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip and all other forms of collective punishment”. The resolution called “for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza”.

The statement went on to detail how the UNHRC calls “upon all States to take immediate action to prevent the continued forcible transfer of Palestinians within or from Gaza”. Most importantly, it chose to talk about how the world needed “to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel”.

The statement explicitly stated that the “resolutions concerned the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem”. The resolution called on Israel to realise and protect “the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan, and Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory”.