Pakistan calls US veto of Gaza ceasefire a ‘dark moment’

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan on Friday described the US veto of a Gaza ceasefire resolution as a “dark moment” and urged the United States to reconsider its position.

On Thursday, the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have called for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza and demanded that Israel lift all restrictions on aid deliveries to the besieged Palestinian enclave. Pakistan expressed “profound regret” over the veto, particularly against a resolution focused solely on humanitarian concerns.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, voiced deep regret over the US action, stating, “On the eve of the 80th General Assembly Session and the High-Level Week, and at the 10,000th meeting—what a dark moment in this Chamber.”

“What prevented the Council from acting was the exercise of the veto,” the Pakistani envoy asserted. “That carries a heavy responsibility. And that is where the apology must lie.”

“In moments of such grave human suffering, preventing the Council from fulfilling its mandate risks enabling the continuation of that suffering. Those who have chosen this course must review their position,” he added.

Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad emphasized the dire situation in Gaza, where people are caught between relentless bombardment and a suffocating blockade. He said, “In that grim setting, today’s failure sends a dangerous message: that the lives of two million besieged Palestinians are deemed expendable and can be subordinated to political considerations.”

“Every hour of obstruction deepens the wound — and aggravates the suffering of the people of Gaza. Each failure compounds the cost – also for the credibility of this Council,” he added.

“The majority of this Council has acted responsibly. We have fulfilled our duty under the Charter. The shortcomings lie not with the Council as a whole, but with the constraints imposed on it,” he continued.

Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad pointed out that famine threatens to spread across the Gaza Strip; the Israeli onslaught is now claiming dozens of lives daily and could uproot a million people; the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank exposes the entrenched nature of occupation and its true intentions – a death knell to the two-state solution.

“What a stark manifestation of settler colonialism in the 21st century,” Ambassador Ahmad remarked.

Pakistan, he said, reaffirms its unwavering support for the Palestinian people in their just struggle for self-determination, dignity, and justice, and calls for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire – an end to starvation and the blockade, with full access through multiple entry and distribution points for humanitarian aid throughout the Gaza Strip, and a just, lasting and peaceful settlement of the Palestinian question, with the establishment of a sovereign, contiguous Palestinian State, on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

“We stand on the side of humanity and with justice, and with international law,” the Pakistani envoy said.

Read More: US vetoes UN demand for ceasefire, aid access in Gaza

“The world is watching. The cries of children should pierce our hearts. The anguish of mothers should shake our conscience. Palestine looks to this Council — and we cannot turn away.”

“Forgive us,” said Algeria’s UN Ambassador Amar Bendjama, after the vote. “Despite the sincere efforts, this Security Council was not of any help for you,” he said, addressing the people of Gaza.

Thanking those present for their efforts to “try to bring this nightmare and this genocide against the Palestinian people to an end”, the State of Palestine’s Ambassador Riyadh Mansoor stressed that the international community “cannot fail them any longer”.