Pakistan announces immediate aid package for Palestine

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has announced an urgent aid package for Palestine, as relief flights will be departing within the next two days on directives of Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will dispatch assistance via two cargo planes carrying 100 tons of supplies. The aid will be transported through special flights via Jordan and Egypt to reach Palestinian territories.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will oversee the dispatch and delivery process, while Pakistani ambassadors in Jordan and Egypt will ensure the aid reaches its intended destinations.

The Pakistani public reaffirms complete solidarity and support for their Palestinian brothers and sisters.

Earlier, Pakistan has called on the UN Security Council not to remain “a bystander” amid the deepening humanitarian crisis in war-shattered Gaza, with Israeli military operations and attacks on civilians seeking aid continuing to exact a devastating toll on lives and infrastructure.

“The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza defies comprehension,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the 15-member Council, during a briefing on the situation in the Middle East.

The total number of Palestinian fatalities since 7 October 2023 has surpassed 56,500, mostly women and children, according to Gazan health authorities.

Today’s briefing was convened pursuant to Council resolution 2334 (2016), which requests the Secretary-General to report every three months on its implementation. The resolution demands that Israel cease all settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

However, discussions extended beyond its scope, covering the risk of famine in Gaza and aid delivery conducted by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — a non-UN mechanism established with support from Israel and the United States.