At UN, Pakistan calls for an end to war, killings in Gaza

Islamabad: At the United Nations, Pakistan has called for an end to war and killings in Gaza so that a durable two-state solution to the Palestine issue can be found. 

The call was made by Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Munir Akram while speaking at the 10th Emergency Special UNGA Session in NewYork today. 

He said the world is witnessing a human tragedy of epic proportions unfold in front of our eyes. The Palestinians are being bombed indiscriminately and without mercy or compunction. Their essential lifelines - water, food, fuel - have been cut off. Over a million have been internally displaced.

The ambassador said thirty-seven staff members of the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) in Palestine have tragically lost their lives.

He said Pakistan strongly and unequivocally condemns Israeli air strikes and the systematic and barbaric crimes against the Palestinians. These Israeli attacks on civilians, civilian objects and infrastructure, blockade of water, food and fuel, as well as the forced transfer of people from the occupied territory, are flagrant violations of international humanitarian law and amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Munir Akram called for reaffirming the right of Palestinian people under international law to struggle by all possible means, including armed struggle, to secure their freedom from foreign occupation and exercise their right to self-determination.

He said in the context of this war, consideration should also be given to some form of an accountability mechanism as crimes being committed cannot go unpunished.

He also underscored the need to consider ways to prevent a recurrence of this slaughter. He called for giving serious  consideration to the OIC Foreign Ministers' proposal of deployment of a protection force to safeguard Palestinian civilians in the Gaza and perhaps also in the West Bank.