ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar hoped the international community would play a “significant role” to end “Israeli bloodshed” in 2024 and bring a just solution to the crisis that has claimed the lives of over 21,000 Palestinians, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Monday. 

Israel’s war on Gaza, which has exceeded 12 weeks now, has resulted in the killing of 21,800 Palestinians. The Jewish nation has reduced thousands of structures to rubble in the densely populated territory amid mass evacuations, starvation and an outbreak of diseases in Gaza, which used to be a bustling area before the Oct. 7 attacks. 

Kakar’s government banned new year celebrations last week to express solidarity with Palestine and urged Pakistanis to mark the event with simplicity by keeping the people of Gaza in their thoughts. Pakistan, which has never established diplomatic relations with Israel, has consistently called on the world to intervene for an immediate cease-fire and ensure an independent Palestinian state is created with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. 

In a statement released by the PMO on the occasion of the new year, Kakar said 2023 witnessed “the most tragic events,” especially the Israeli aggression on the people of Palestine. 

“The entire Pakistani nation and the Muslim Ummah are deeply saddened by the indiscriminate killings and ethnic cleansing of innocent Palestinians, especially children, in Gaza and the West Bank,” Kakar said. 

“I hope that in 2024, the international community will play a significant role in establishing peace in Palestine, stopping Israeli bloodshed, and finding a just solution to the issue,” he added. 

The Pakistani prime minister said his government was determined to further improve the country’s economic situation and eradicate “terrorism” this year to alleviate the masses’ hardships.

“In 2024, let us all join hands to make Pakistan a beacon of progress, prosperity, peace, and tranquility,” Kakar said. “Let’s, in the beginning of the new year, pledge to continue playing our roles with sincerity to build the Pakistan envisioned by the Quaid-e-Azam.”

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war in Gaza would take “many more months to end,” signaling Tel Aviv’s plans to continue bombarding the area that has killed thousands. His vow to restore Israeli control over Gaza’s border with Egypt raises new questions over an eventual two-state solution to the crisis that has spanned over seven decades now.