UNITED NATIONS:
In a moving statement before the UN Security Council, Pakistan has called on the international community to act decisively to save the people of Gaza from their acute suffering, invoking the judgment of history.
“History will judge us anyway by our actions, let us be judged not by silence and passivity, but by our being on the side of humanity and international law,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the 15-member Council on Wednesday.
“Gaza teeters on the brink of total devastationa man-made catastrophe where death stems not only from bombardment, but from the systematic dismantling of the conditions necessary for life,” he said during a debate on the humanitarian situation in the war-devastated enclave.
“The world cannot stand by as Gaza is starved and shattered,” the Pakistani envoy said, pointing out that over 58,000 people have been killed, mostly women and children, more than 138,000 wounded, and entire neighbourhoods have been reduced to rubble.
“Let’s us not grow numb to the daily tollit is not just another headline, another ticker, another statistic,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar said, adding that behind each number is a life: a person with a story, a dream extinguished, a family torn apart.”
“The international community must act, and without delay,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar said, calling for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire; the lifting of the blockade and restoration of full, unhindered, and impartial humanitarian access, especially through the UN system, including UNRWA; the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners, without delay or condition; unambiguous rejection of all illegal policies and actions of the occupying power, including forcible displacement of Palestinians; and finally and most fundamentally, addressing the root cause of this crisis: the prolonged occupation and denial of Palestinian rights.
“A just and lasting peace in the Middle East requires the realization of the two-state solution, with an independent and sovereign state of Palestine based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds al-Sharif as its capital. In this regard we look forward to the high-level conference, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France and hope that it still yields an immediate outcome.”
