ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top diplomat at the United Nations said on Tuesday Israel’s war on Gaza was not to destroy Hamas following a surprise attack launched by the group in October but to erase the “idea of Palestine” as the UN General Assembly passed a resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.
Israel resorted to airstrikes and initiated a ground offensive in Gaza after the Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,200 people and was described by Hamas as a response to the deteriorating condition of Palestinian people living under Israeli occupation.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 18,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 50,000 wounded in Israel’s attacks which also targeted hospitals and residential neighborhoods.
Prior to the UN General Assembly vote, US President Joe Biden, whose administration has fully backed the war on Gaza, told a fundraising event for his 2024 re-election campaign that Israel was losing international support because of “indiscriminate bombing that takes place.”
“Israel’s goal is not only to erase Hamas,” Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations Ambassador Munir Akram said while addressing the world body. “This is a war against the Palestinian people. Israel’s goal is to erase not only a people but the entire idea of Palestine.”
The United States, which previously vetoed a call by the UN Security Council for cease-fire, tried to amend the text of the General Assembly resolution with Austria to condemn “the heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas” but could not find enough support.
Ambassador Akram argued against the amendment, saying any blame “has to be placed on both parties, especially on Israel.”
“When you deny people freedom and dignity, when you humiliate and trap them in an open-air prison where you kill them as if they were beasts, they become very angry and they do to others what was done to them,” he said. “Therefore, for Austria and my friend from the United States to blame Hamas in their amendments is not equitable.”
The Pakistani diplomat noted over 80 percent of Gaza’s population had been driven out of homes while thousands were missing and buried under the rubble.
“Is this any form of legitimate self-defense,” he wondered, asking the UN members to see the “one-sided slaughter that is taking place” while trying to put an end to it.
Pakistan says Israel’s Gaza offensive aims to erase ‘idea of Palestine’ as UNGA demands cease-fire
https://arab.news/jqtx3
Pakistan says Israel’s Gaza offensive aims to erase ‘idea of Palestine’ as UNGA demands cease-fire
- Ambassador Munir Akram calls Gaza ‘open-air prison’ where people of Palestine are killed like ‘beasts’
- He says Israel’s bombing of the Palestinian territory cannot be described as legitimate self-defense
Pakistan’s Mahnoor Omer named among TIME’s ‘Women of the Year’ for 2026
- Omer moved a Pakistani court against the so-called ‘period tax’ in Sept. 2025 which has since sparked a national debate
- Taxes on sanitary pads in Pakistan can add up to 40 percent to retail price, UNICEF says only around 12 percent women use such products
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani women’s rights activist Mahnoor Omer, who fought against taxes on menstrual products, has been named among the TIME magazine’s ‘Women of the Year’ for 2026.
Omer’s efforts have been recognized alongside 16 activists, artists, athletes and businesswomen in the TIME’s Women of the Year 2026 list, including Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Chloe Zhao.
Dissatisfied with the efforts to educate Pakistani girls about sexual violence, Omer founded the Noor Foundation at the age of 14 and held her own workshops with village girls about everything from climate change to menstruation, according to the TIME magazine.
Two years later, a conversation with a domestic worker about the price of pads made her realize that not everyone could afford these essentials. She moved a court against the so-called “period tax” in Sept. 2025 and the case has sparked a national debate on the subject, considered a taboo by many in Pakistan, since its first hearing late last year.
“A decade and one law degree after her interest in activism was sparked, Omer, now 25, is putting her passion and expertise to work in the name of gender equity,” TIME wrote about Omer on its website.
Taxes imposed on sanitary products in Pakistan can add up to 40 percent to the retail price. UNICEF estimates just 12 percent of women in the country use commercially produced pads or tampons. The alternative, using cloth, risks health impacts including rashes and infections, and can make it impossible for girls to attend school while menstruating.
Omer’s suit, which awaits the government response, has sparked a national discussion. She says she spoke about menstruation to her father and male cousins, who thanked her for standing up for their daughters.
The 25-year-old, who is currently enrolled in a master’s degree in gender, peace, and security at the London School of Economics, sees this case as just the first of many.
“I’m not free until every woman is free,” she was quoted as saying by TIME. “I want to leave no stones unturned in terms of what I can do with the next few decades, as a lawyer for the women in my country and gender minorities in general.”
