Pakistan ready to airlift, treat injured Palestinians in Gaza: FM Jilani

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Foreign Minister (FM) Jalil Abbas Jilani on Friday asserted that Pakistan is ready to airlift and treat injured Palestinians in the country, lamenting Israel’s hindrance in providing humanitarian assistance, ARY News reported.

The foreign minister made these remarks while responding to notice raised by Senator Mushtaq Ahmed in the Senate. The notice sought details on what efforts Pakistan was doing related to Gaza escalation and to end Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians.

FM Jilani informed the Senate that Pakistan had actively engaged in ending the Gaza crisis and resolution of the Palestine issue.

Highlighting Pakistan’s contributions, he said, “Pakistan, along with Saudi Arabia, co-sponsored the OIC extraordinary session of foreign ministers held last month in Jeddah, and the extraordinary session of OIC was also held in Jeddah due to efforts of Pakistan”.

He said Pakistan played a crucial role among the eight foreign ministers who collaborated on a unanimous document during the OIC summit.

“Pakistan played a pivotal role in the passage of the resolution presented by Jordan at the United Nations, garnering support from numerous countries,” the foreign minister revealed.

FM Jilani revealed that Pakistan was in contact with Egyptian and Jordanian authorities to provide Palestinian humanitarian assistance. “Unfortunately, Israel is currently hindering the delivery of aid to Gaza,” he noted.

He further said that Pakistan had also extended offers of medical assistance, including airlifting Palestinians to Pakistan and establishing a hospital in Gaza, but “Israel had not granted permission for these initiatives”.

“There is no doubt that Israel has committed aggression against Palestinians. In fact, it amounts to genocide against the innocent people of Palestine. The situation in Gaza is dire, with a severe lack of water, health facilities, and food, leading to a major humanitarian crisis,” he pointed out.

Condemning Israel for war crimes in Gaza, he urged, “Israel must be held responsible for these actions, and we call upon the international community to focus on the Palestine issue and play a decisive role in ending the crisis”.

The foreign minister also express hope that the pressure exerted by OIC countries on Israel will yield positive outcomes.

Israel-Hamas War

The comments from the minister came as Israel and Hamas started a four-day ceasefire on Friday with the Palestinian group set to release 13 Israeli women and child hostages later in the day and aid to flow into the besieged Gaza enclave.

Israel-Hamas truce came into effect after more than a month of bombing in Gaza that killed over 14,000 people including children and women.

Israel had launched its devastating invasion of Gaza after gunmen from Hamas burst across the border fence on October 7, killing 1,200 people and seizing about 240 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Hundreds of thousands of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes to escape the violence, but conditions are becoming more desperate.