ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar will participate in a special meeting of foreign ministers of OIC member states set to take place in Jeddah on Friday, Radio Pakistan reported this week, where he will denounce an “unacceptable” proposal to displace Palestinians from Gaza.
US President Donald Trump has angered the Muslim world with a plan to permanently displace the population of more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza, assert US control over the territory and turn it into an international beach resort. The plan has echoed long-standing Palestinian fears of being permanently driven from their homes.
On Friday, the OIC will hold an Extraordinary Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers to discuss joint actions in response to the “deteriorating conditions” in Palestine due to ongoing Israeli aggression, continued violations of Palestinian rights, and calls for their displacement.
“At the session, Ishaq Dar will reaffirm Pakistan’s steadfast support for the Palestinian cause and emphasize its principled position,” Radio Pakistan reported on Tuesday. “He will advocate for the full withdrawal of Israel from all occupied territories, including Jerusalem, denounce the unacceptable proposal for further displacing Palestinians.”
Dar will also call for the restoration of the “inalienable rights” of the Palestinian people such as their right to return to their homeland and the establishment of a viable, contiguous, and sovereign Palestinian state based on the pre-June 1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
This week, Arab leaders adopted an Egyptian reconstruction plan for Gaza that would cost $53 billion and avoid displacing Palestinians from the enclave, in contrast to Trump’s “Middle East Riviera” vision.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said on Tuesday Egypt had worked in cooperation with Palestinians on creating an administrative committee of independent, professional Palestinian technocrats entrusted with the governance of Gaza after the end of the Israel-Gaza war. The committee would be responsible for the oversight of humanitarian aid and managing the Strip’s affairs for a temporary period, in preparation for the return of the Palestinian Authority (PA), he said.
The other critical issue is the fate of the Palestinian group Hamas, the PA’s rival, whose October 7, 2023, attack on Israel killed 1,200 people with more than 250 taken as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The attack led to the Israel’s military latest assault on Gaza, that has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry. The assault has also displaced nearly Gaza’s entire population and led to accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies.
Hamas, which has run Gaza since 2007, said in a statement it agrees to the Egyptian committee proposal.
Palestinian territory – encompassing the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem – has been occupied by Israel since 1967. Pakistan does not recognize Israel and has consistently called for an independent state of Palestine based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
