New York (TDI): During the United Nations Security Council’s High-Level Open Debate on the Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmed, said that peace and occupation cannot co-exist.
The remark was part of Pakistan’s official statement during the Open Debate. “Pakistan firmly believes that sustainable peace in the Middle East cannot be built on the normalization of occupation,” it said.
UNSC regularly holds dialogue on the situation in Middle East, especially what is happening in Gaza. At the UN, Pakistan has maintained a consistent stance on the Palestinian question and advocates for a peaceful resolution involving two-state solution.
Pakistan firmly believes that sustainable peace in the Middle East cannot be built on the normalization of occupation. The world must come to terms with this reality. Seventy-five years of failure have shown one immutable truth: peace cannot coexist with occupation, justice… pic.twitter.com/UvpM8CyxJd
— Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN (@PakistanUN_NY) April 29, 2025
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar noted that seventy five years of Israel’s occupation of Palestine and Palestinian resistance to the occupation has one inevitable lesson and truth; that “peace cannot coexist with occupation, justice cannot thrive under apartheid, and stability cannot take root where millions remain stateless.”
Criticizing the lack of action as millions are displaced in Gaza and as Israel continues to strike civilians every day, the Ambassador said that the UN body knows and recognizes the “pacific settlement” of the Palestinian question and all stakeholders are aware of the framework and international law, yet the will to enforce a peaceful settlement remains missing.
Read More: Gaza Conflict: Direct, Structural, or Cultural Violence?
“The world knows what must be done… The only question that remains is whether there is the necessary will to do it,” he said.
So far, Qatar and Egypt are trying to mediate a truce deal between Israel and Hamas. is no active negotiation happening between Israel. A ceasefire was brokered between the two in January, which Israel openly started violating since last month.
The negotiations are part of the three-phase peace plan proposed by the US President Donald Trump. As the second phase talks continue, it is hard to say if Israel is committed to the peace plan at all.
Nuzhat Rana is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
