Pakistan asks ‘‘Israel backers’ to help end genocide of Palestinians

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday said the “backers of Israel” must prevail upon it to abandon the plans for settler colonialism, forced displacement, and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.

“As an occupying power, Israel must fulfill its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention and forthwith end the carnage in Gaza,” Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Mumtaz Zehra Baloch said at a weekly press briefing.

The FO spokesperson said that Pakistan was deeply concerned about the heinous crimes being committed against the Palestinian people as Israeli forces continued with their “campaign of terror and brutality” in Gaza.

She said over a month, the people of Gaza had been subjected to the worst forms of collective punishment.

Israel has relentlessly bombarded the besieged Gaza Strip, levelling entire city blocks and killing thousands, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza has said that over 10,800 people in the besieged enclave have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 7. The figure includes over 4,200 children.

“Israeli forces are committing crimes against humanity with impunity as they indiscriminately massacre defenceless civilians and deliberately deprive them of food, water, shelter, and medical care,” she said.

Baloch said the use of phosphorus bombs and threats of nuclear holocaust were being made against a people under occupation who were being forcibly evicted from their land.

She said as a tragedy of epic proportions unfolds in Gaza, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) must act to fulfill its responsibility to uphold peace and call for an urgent and unconditional ceasefire, lifting of the siege, and commencement of rapid, unhindered humanitarian assistance.

Baloch also said that Pakistan welcomed the forthcoming Extraordinary Islamic Summit being held on 11th November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“The OIC Summit has been convened in response to the unprecedented Israeli attacks on Gaza and its environs, which have posed a grave threat to the civilian population and precipitated a humanitarian crisis,” he added.

“Pakistan will continue to play its role to advance international consensus and galvanize efforts for an urgent end to Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and urgent provision of relief assistance to the people of Gaza,” she said.

On the situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K), she said India must comply with its international obligations and respect the rights and freedoms of the Kashmiri people who have an inalienable right to self-determination.

“Pakistan will continue to extend political, diplomatic, and moral support to our Kashmiri brothers and sisters for the just and peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions,” she said.