United Nations (TDI): Pakistan has called on countries shielding Israel from accountability at the UN Security Council to reassess their policies, warning that such positions have enabled “mass carnage” of Palestinians in Gaza.
Speaking during a Security Council debate on the Middle East, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, said apologists for the occupying power must “introspect and objectively assess the consequences of their policies.”
“In fact, impunity has become Israel’s shield. The Security Council cannot remain a bystander. It must act now, with resolve, to fulfill its Charter responsibility for international peace and security.”
The Pakistani envoy cited a recent Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) resolution urging the Council to act under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to halt Israel’s aggression and violations. He noted that more than 62,000 people have been killed in Gaza, an overwhelming majority of them women and children, underscoring that this cannot be dismissed as collateral damage.
Read More: Pakistan Strongly Condemns Israeli Airstrike in Gaza
Ambassador Ahmad described Israel’s ongoing military actions, forced displacement, famine, and settlement expansion as a “campaign of ethnic cleansing in plain sight.” He warned that Israel’s declared intent to fully occupy Gaza City risks another mass displacement of up to one million people, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.
Senior UN officials also painted a grim picture of the crisis. Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said the world is witnessing suffering “to levels not seen in recent history.”
Joyce Msuya, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, confirmed that famine has already taken hold in Gaza, with over half a million people facing starvation and tens of thousands of children at risk of death.
Calling for immediate action, Ambassador Ahmad urged the Security Council to demand a permanent and unconditional ceasefire, lift all restrictions on humanitarian aid, secure the release of hostages and prisoners, and halt Israel’s occupation plans and settlement expansion.
Read More: Pakistan Urges UN to Halt Israel’s Gaza Occupation
“Lasting peace requires a sovereign, viable, and contiguous Palestinian state, based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” he stressed. “Occupation must end.”
Concluding his remarks, the Pakistani envoy warned, “Every moment of inaction deepens the suffering, multiplies the grief, and tears apart the very fabric of international law. The world is watching. History will not forgive delay. It will not forget inaction. The Council must rise to its Charter duty, and act.”
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
