Pakistan urges UNSC to perform its responsibility for Gaza ceasefire

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch on Thursday said that the United Nations Security Council must perform its primary responsibility to impose an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and protect the people of Gaza from an impending genocide.

“We call on Israel’s backers to urge Israel to end its barbaric attacks and inhumane siege against Gaza… We join the (United Nations) Secretary-General in his call to the international community to end the ongoing situation and avert a humanitarian catastrophe,” the spokesperson said in her weekly press briefing.

She said Pakistan welcomed the UN Secretary-General’s decision to invoke Article 99 of the UN Charter, to bring to the attention of the UNSC the dire security situation and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

She reiterated Pakistan’s strong and unequivocal condemnation of the continued use of force by Israel and its indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian facilities and infrastructure in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

She said as the Secretary-General has underscored in his letter to the President of the UN Security Council, “civilians throughout Gaza face grave danger” and “nowhere is safe in Gaza.”

“There is a severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian lifeline essential for survival. The situation is fast deteriorating with potentially irreversible implications for Palestine and for peace and security in the region. Such an outcome must be avoided at all costs,” she remarked.

Calling for an international conference for long-term peace in Palestine, she said the durable peace in the region would emerge from the internationally agreed two-state solution and from the creation of a secure, viable, contiguous, and sovereign state of Palestine based on the pre-June 1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

She told the media that a series of visits by senior US officials was taking place this week including Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration, Julieta Valls Noyes; Special Representative on Afghanistan, Tom West; and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Elizabeth Horst.

“Conversations in the first two visits like those of Special Representative Tom West will focus on Afghanistan and Afghanistan-related issues. With the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of course our agenda would be broader… These visits are part of ongoing dialogue with the US on a range of issues including, but not limited to, the situation in Afghanistan,” she remarked.

She said the visits would be an opportunity for both sides to exchange views in Afghanistan, to share respective perspectives on developments taking place, including concerning resettlement of Afghan nationals to the United States, as well as the bilateral cooperation.

Discussing the situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), the spokesperson said the decision by the Indian Parliament to pass legislation about the future of IIOJK was yet another farce to perpetuate India’s occupation and to deny the people of Jammu and Kashmir their right to self-determination.

“Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally-recognized disputed territory, whose final disposition is to be made in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions and as per the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. Any other process cannot serve as a substitute to the right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people,” she commented.

She said Pakistan had repeatedly rejected the relevance of the Indian Constitution to this disputed territory and rejected any measures that perpetuated India’s occupation.

“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.”

To a question, Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra told the media that the Torkham border gate was reopened on Wednesday for all kinds of traffic and the issue regarding the signboard was resolved, and as border officials engaged with each other to resolve such issues whenever they arise.

Asked to comment about her lawyer’s statement on Dr Aafia being harassed in Guantanamo Bay and later as well, the spokesperson said the prime minister had directed to take up the matter with the US authorities to investigate and address it.

“In the past as well, we have repeatedly requested the US Department of State and the Department of Justice as well as the prison authorities of FMC Carswell that Dr. Aafia Siddiqui should not be subjected to any sort of physical or mental abuse. The well-being of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui remains our utmost priority, and that of our Missions in Washington and Houston,” she commented.