ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Arif Alvi said on Thursday that “vested interests” were keeping countries across the world from condemning Israeli brutalities against innocent Palestinians, amid continuing strikes on Gaza. 

The statement came as Israel pressed its offensive in the Gaza Strip after telling key backer, the United States, that the war to crush Hamas would last “more than several months.” 

The war began after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that Israeli officials say killed about 1,200 people. Israel’s military action in Gaza has since killed more than 18,700 people, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry. 

Speaking at a ceremony in Lahore, President Alvi stressed for justice around the world so that the “value of human life became equal.” 

“Vested interests were stopping the countries across the world to condemn the brutalities being committed against the innocent children, women and people in Palestine,” President Alvi’s office quoted him as saying at the ceremony. 

He urged the international community to play its role for a durable solution of the Palestine issue. 

Pakistan does not recognize the state of Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. 

On Thursday, Pakistan’s Foreign Office also called on the United States Security Council to fulfill its responsibility to impose a cease-fire in Gaza. 

“It is very unfortunate that the United Nations Security Council has failed in its responsibility to call for a cease-fire,” a Pakistani foreign office spokesperson said in a briefing to reporters. 

“And the UN General Assembly has demonstrated the will of the majority of the member states by calling for this cease-fire. So Pakistan calls on the United Nations Security Council to fulfill its responsibilities under the UN Charter and for it to impose a cease-fire in Gaza.”