ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday called for an embargo on military supplies to Israel, state-run media reported, criticizing the Jewish state for killing over 37,000 Palestinians since October 2023.
Dar is in Jordan for the ‘Call for Action: Urgent Humanitarian Response for Gaza’ conference jointly organized by Jordanian King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
“Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Tuesday called for an embargo on all the military supplies and sales to Israel, besides proposing to consider the deployment of an impartial international force for the protection of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.
Dar called for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian areas in a statement at the conference. He called on world powers to play their part and halt the violence in the West Bank and step up the provision of humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in Gaza.
“We strongly oppose any demographic or territorial change in Gaza,” Dar was quoted as saying by the APP. “In this context, and as an important step, it is time to secure the immediate admission of the State of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations.”
He criticized Israel for its utter disregard for international law, the UN Charter and the collective will of the international community.
“Starvation has been employed as a tool of warfare. Humanitarian supplies and life-saving assistance have been impeded,” he said.
“Civilian infrastructure, homes, schools, hospitals, aid convoys, and humanitarian shelters have been willfully targeted and destroyed.”
UNSC BACKS CEASEFIRE PROPOSAL
Earlier on Tuesday, Dar met United Nations head António Guterres and commended his leadership and proactive role in raising concerns over the war in Gaza on the international stage.
The United Nations Security Council on Monday backed a proposal outlined by US President Joe Biden for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and urged the Palestinian group to accept the deal aimed at ending the eight-month-long war.
Hamas welcomed the adoption of the US-drafted resolution and said in a statement that it was ready to cooperate with mediators over implementing the principles of the plan “that are consistent with the demands of our people and resistance.”
Russia abstained from the UN vote, while the remaining 14 Security Council members voted in favor of the resolution supporting a three-phase ceasefire plan laid out by Biden on May 31 that he described as an Israeli initiative.
The resolution welcomes the new ceasefire proposal, states that Israel has accepted it, calls on Hamas to agree to it and “urges both parties to fully implement its terms without delay and without condition.”
