ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Munir Akram, has demanded “strict accountability” for Israeli crimes against Gaza’s children, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported on Friday.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher briefed the UN Security Council meeting on Thursday via video from Stockholm and bluntly assessing the past 15 months of war in Gaza said: “Children have been killed, starved, and frozen to death … They have been maimed, orphaned, separated from their family. Conservative estimates indicate that over 17,000 children are without their families in Gaza. A generation has been traumatized.”
The continued lack of basic shelter combined with winter temperatures pose serious threats to children. With more than a million children living in makeshift tents, and with many families displaced over the past 15 months, children face extreme risks, UNICEF has said. The UN Human Rights Office has said nearly 70 percent of fatalities it had verified in Gaza were women and children.
“Heinous crimes have been committed in this brutal [Israel-Hamas] war, particularly against children in violation of international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention on Genocide,” Akram said at the briefing to the UN Security Council this week.
“There must be accountability for these crimes. This is essential to restore international legitimacy. We must try to ensure that such a brutal slaughter of children never happens again.”
Palestinian health authorities say Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 47,000 people, with another 10,000 believed to be dead and uncounted under the rubble. A United Nations damage assessment released this month showed that clearing over 50 million tons of rubble left in the aftermath of Israel’s bombardment could take 21 years.
Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal to halt fighting in Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners on Jan. 15, opening the way to a possible end to a 15-month war that has upended the Middle East.
Pakistan demands accountability for Israel’s ‘heinous crimes’ against Gazan children
https://arab.news/6na2f
Pakistan demands accountability for Israel’s ‘heinous crimes’ against Gazan children
- UN Human Rights Office has said nearly 70 percent of fatalities it had verified in Gaza were women and children
- Over a million children live in makeshift tents, many families have been displaced over 15 months, UNICEF says
At OIC meeting, Pakistan reiterates condemnation of Israeli recognition of Somaliland
- Islamabad warns move threatens Somalia’s sovereignty and regional stability
- Pakistan reiterates support for Palestinian statehood and rejects displacement
ISLAMABAD: The foreign office on Thursday reiterated Pakistan’s rejection of Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, a self-declared breakaway region of Somalia, calling the move illegal and warning it could destabilize the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but is not recognized by the United Nations or the African Union. Israel’s recent steps to recognize the territory, along with visits by Israeli officials, have drawn criticism from Somalia and several Muslim-majority countries, which say the move violates Somalia’s territorial integrity and risks escalating tensions in a strategically sensitive region bordering major global shipping lanes.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar took up the issue during the 22nd Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers held in Jeddah on Jan. 10, which was convened specifically to discuss recent developments related to Somalia.
“In his address, the DPM-FM strongly condemned the illegal and unlawful recognition by Israel of the Somaliland region, as well as subsequent unwarranted and highly provocative visits of Israeli officials to the territory,” the foreign office spokesman said in a weekly briefing.
“He termed such acts as political aggression and a direct assault on Somalia’s internationally recognized borders, setting a perilous precedent and threatening peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea region, and beyond.”
The FO spokesman said Dar also addressed the Palestinian issue in his speech, rejecting proposals for the displacement of Palestinians and reaffirmed Pakistan’s long-standing support for a two-state solution.
Dar also welcomed the OIC’s continued backing for Pakistan’s position on Kashmir and urged the bloc to intensify efforts toward what it describes as the right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The Extraordinary OIC Session demonstrated collective determination of OIC member states on various issues of facing Muslim Ummah, particularly Somalia,” the foreign office spokesman said.
“It sent a clear message to the international community on upholding the principles of state sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
