Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday expressed the hope that Trump administration would lend its weight on priority basis for bringing peace in the Middle East in accordance with the UN resolutions and international law, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Addressing the Council of Foreign Ministers’ Preparatory Meeting for the Second Arab-Islamic Summit on the Situation in Middle East, the deputy prime minister highlighted that mere condemnation of Israeli actions will not be enough. He also stressed to act now to fulfil the moral and legal duty to stand with the people of Palestine for their rights and demand justice for them. “The whole Muslim Ummah is looking at us today. We need to demonstrate unwavering political will and complete unity and take concrete steps to effectively address the situation at hand.”
He stressed for securing an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza and the region, ensuring unfettered humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians, forcing Israel to stop demonization of UNRWA and urging the UNGA to ensure UNRWA continues its vital operations.
Ishaq Dar also called for pursuing full implementation of the UNGA resolution ES-10/24, supporting Palestine’s admission as a full member of the UN, exploring legal avenues to hold Israel accountable for war crimes, imposing an immediate arms embargo on Israel, undertaking a comprehensive review of Israel’s membership of the UN, and nominating a Joint Arab-Islamic Special Envoy on Middle East as a focal point to coordinate progress on the implementation of the Resolutions adopted by the Joint-Arab-Islamic Summits.
He said the first Joint Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh in November last year had adopted far-reaching decisions to end war in Gaza. However he said unfortunately, after more than a year, the situation in the Middle East had become worse. “Israel has been contravening all international norms and laws with impunity. The Israeli occupying forces continue to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity against the innocent Palestinians,” he added.
He said during the last one year death toll of innocent Palestinians had crossed 44,000, while more than a hundred thousand had been injured and millions displaced. Furthermore, he said international humanitarian access to Palestinians had been further restricted.
“The reckless pursuit of a so-called greater Israel by encroaching upon the sovereignty of states beyond Palestine, is fraught with serious implications for regional peace and stability.” He said Pakistan strongly condemned Israel’s military strikes against these brotherly countries which were a blatant violation of the UN Charter and international law;
He said the UN Security Council remained ineffective, the calls by UN General Assembly, the OIC, and International Court of Justice for a ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian aid, and civilian protection were also utterly disregarded.
Congratulating the Saudi initiative for holding the inaugural meeting of the “Global Alliance for Implementation of a Two State Solution” last month, the deputy prime minister assured that Pakistan will abide by its commitment to and engagement with the Alliance for the achievement of its objectives. “Pakistan looks forward to actively contributing to the different thematic working groups of the Global Alliance.”
He also acknowledged and commended the sincere efforts by the Ministerial Committee constituted after the first Arab-Islamic Summit last November for the resolution of this intractable issue confronting the Muslim Ummah. He said Pakistan had always been a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause. “Since October last year, Pakistan has sent 12 consignments comprising humanitarian assistance for our Palestinian brethren. Besides, Palestinian students are being provided additional scholarships at various Pakistani educational facilities. Pakistan is also taking Palestinian medical students to complete their education in Pakistan’s medical institutions,” he added.
He said Pakistan will continue to champion the rights of its Palestinian brethren until the creation of a viable, contiguous, and sovereign state of Palestine based on the pre-June 1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. The deputy PM on the occasion extended his appreciation to Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud and Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud bin Abdullah for convening this crucial meeting for the preparation of the Summit tomorrow.