ISLAMABAD: Pakistan urges the world to halt Israeli strikes on Gaza for the success of a conference in June on the two-state solution to the Palestine issue, Pakistan’s permanent mission to the United Nations (UN) said on Saturday.
The statement came days after French President Emmanuel Macron said he spoke with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the two leaders condemned the resumption of Israeli strikes on Gaza. Macron said they will co-chair a conference on a two-state solution, aimed at “helping revive a political perspective for both Israelis and Palestinians.”
The Israeli military on Wednesday resumed ground operations in central and southern Gaza, as a second day of airstrikes killed at least 48 Palestinians, according to health authorities. The renewed ground operations came a day after more than 400 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes in one of the deadliest episodes since the beginning of the conflict in October 2023, shattering a ceasefire that has largely held since January.
“If we can halt Israel’s military campaign, sustain a ceasefire and end the humanitarian crisis, it would create conditions conducive to the success of the endeavor for a two-State solution at the Conference, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France, next June,” the Pakistani mission quoted the country’s permanent representative, Munir Akram, as saying at the UN.
“This is an outcome that should be desired by the world and should enjoy consensus within the Security Council.”
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 Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and pre-1967 borders.
“The Security Council, and the world community, cannot sit back and watch this on-going ethnic cleansing,” Akram was quoted as saying. “A failure to halt this brutal war will unleash the worst instinct of powerful and predatory states, shred the principles of the UN Charter, designed to prevent aggression and the scourge of war.”
Israel’s war on Gaza, which began after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas, has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and displaced almost all of Gaza’s 2 million population by laying waste to swathes of neighborhoods, schools and hospitals.
Pakistan urges halt in Israeli strikes on Gaza for success of Saudi-backed conference on two-state solution
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Pakistan urges halt in Israeli strikes on Gaza for success of Saudi-backed conference on two-state solution
- Development comes after French President Emmanuel Macron said he spoke with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and they will co-chair a conference on the two-state solution
- Pakistan does not recognize Israel and has consistently called for an independent Palestinian state based on ‘internationally agreed parameters’ and pre-1967 borders
Pakistan urges UN Security Council to sanction separatist BLA group after recent attacks
- Separatist BLA launched attacks in multiple Balochistan cities last week, killing over 50 as per official figures
- Pakistan envoy says since Taliban assumed control of Afghanistan, BLA, other militant groups have a “new lease of life“
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Iftikhar Ahmed this week urged the Security Council to impose sanctions against the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militant group and designate it as a “terrorist” group, after its recent coordinated attacks in southwestern Balochistan province.
Pakistan’s military said on Thursday it has concluded security operations in Balochistan against separatists that was launched since Jan. 29, killing 216 militants. The military launched counteroffensive operations in Balochistan after the BLA said it launched coordinated attacks in several parts of the province last Friday and Saturday.
The attacks killed 36 civilians and 22 law enforcement and security forces personnel, Pakistan’s military said. Pakistan’s government has accused India of being involved in the attacks, charges that New Delhi has dismissed.
“We hope the Council will act swiftly to designate BLA under the 1267 sanctions regime acceding to the listing request that is currently under consideration,” Iftikhar said on Wednesday during a UNSC briefing on the topic ‘Threats to International Peace and Security caused by Terrorist Acts.’
The 1267 sanctions regime is a UNSC program that seeks to impose sanctions on individuals and entities associated with “terrorism.”
The regime seeks to impose travel bans, freeze assets and impose an arms embargo on individuals and groups primarily associated with Al-Qaeda or the Taliban.
Ahmad said that after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, “externally sponsored and foreign-funded proxy terrorist groups” such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and the BLA have got a “new lease of life.”
“Operating with virtual impunity from Afghan soil and with the active support of our eastern neighbor, these groups are responsible for heinous terrorist attacks inside Pakistan,” he said.
The Pakistani envoy said it has become imperative to prevent billions of dollars of sophisticated weapons and equipment, which were left behind by foreign forces in Afghanistan, “from falling into the hands of terrorists.”
“There must be accountability of external destabilizing actors who support, finance and arm these groups, including their proxies in Afghanistan,” Ahmad said in a veiled reference to India.
Pakistan’s largest and poorest province, mineral-rich Balochistan borders Iran and Afghanistan and is home to China’s investment in the Gwadar deep-water port and other projects.
Balochistan has been the site of a decades-long insurgency led by ethnic Baloch separatists seeking greater autonomy and a larger share of its natural resources.
They accuse the state of denying locals a fair share of the province’s mineral wealth, charges that are denied by the Pakistani government.
