ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reaffirmed its commitment to humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts in Gaza during a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) pledging conference in New York, Pakistani state media reported on Saturday.
The statement came as the UN chief appealed for funding for the beleaguered UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East, accusing Israel of issuing evacuation orders that force Palestinians “to move like human pinballs across a landscape of destruction and death.”
UNRWA’s 30,000 staff provide education, primary health care and other development activities to about 6 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Pakistan has dispatched more than eight planeloads carrying over 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza since the outbreak of Israel’s war on Gaza in October last year, the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“In New York, Second Secretary of the Pakistan Mission to the United Nations Rabia Ijaz advocated for a comprehensive reconstruction plan for Gaza and reiterated readiness to partner in the reconstruction of educational institutions,” the report read.
She also called for an urgent implementation of a peace plan for Gaza as outlined in the UN Security Council resolutions.
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.
Since the beginning of Israel’s war, Pakistan has repeatedly raised the issue at the UN and other world forums, demanding international powers and multilateral bodies stop Israeli military actions in the Palestinian territory.
Israel’s latest evacuation orders in Gaza City have come with more civilian suffering and bloodshed.
Since the Hamas attack that killed some 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, Israeli ground offensives and bombardments have killed more than 38,300 people, mostly children, in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
At UNRWA summit, Pakistan reaffirms commitment to humanitarian aid, reconstruction efforts in Gaza
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At UNRWA summit, Pakistan reaffirms commitment to humanitarian aid, reconstruction efforts in Gaza
- The statement came as UN chief appealed for funding for beleaguered UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Gaza and elsewhere
- UNRWA’s 30,000 staff provide education, primary health care and other development activities to about 6 million Palestinian refugees
Suicide bomber kills at least five at wedding in northwest Pakistan
- Attack took place in Dera Ismail Khan, targeting the home of a local peace committee member
- Peace committees are community-based groups that report militant activity to security forces
PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber killed at least five people and wounded 10 others after detonating explosives at a wedding ceremony in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, officials said, in an attack that underscored persistent militant violence in the country’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The blast took place at the home of a local peace committee member in Dera Ismail Khan district, where guests had gathered for a wedding, police and emergency officials said.
Peace committees in the region are informal, community-based groups that work with security forces to report militant activity and maintain order, making their members frequent targets of attacks.
“A blast occurred near Qureshi Moor in Dera Ismail Khan. Authorities have recovered five bodies and shifted 10 injured to hospital,” said Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the provincial Rescue 1122 emergency service, adding that the rescue operation was ongoing.
Police said the attacker blew himself up inside the house during the ceremony and that the bomber’s head had been recovered, confirming it was a suicide attack.
Several members of the local peace committee were present at the time, raising fears the toll could rise.
District Police Officer Sajjad Ahmed Sahibzada said authorities had launched an investigation into the incident, while security forces sealed off the area.
Militant attacks have surged in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the Taliban returned to power in neighboring
Afghanistan in 2021, with the administration in Islamabad blaming the Afghan government for “facilitating” cross-border attacks targeting Pakistani civilians and security forces. However, Kabul has repeatedly denied the allegation.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also seen frequent intelligence-based operations by security forces targeting suspected militants.
No group has immediately claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack.
