ISLAMABAD: Pakistan described Israel’s continued airstrikes in Syria as “unacceptable” at the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, saying they constituted a breach of Syrian sovereignty and must cease immediately, as the council met to discuss the political and humanitarian situation in the Arab state.
Israel has intensified its military activity in Syria following the downfall of Bashar Assad’s regime in late 2024, citing security concerns over the alleged presence of hostile elements near its borders. The Israeli government has also declared an open-ended military presence in the area, framing it as necessary to and to secure its northern frontier.
In parallel, Israel has also reaffirmed and expanded its hold over the Golan Heights, a territory it captured from Syria in 1967 and later annexed, a move unrecognized by much of the international community. Its recent plans to double the settler population in the Golan have drawn criticism, with various international players warning that Israel’s actions risk further destabilizing an already volatile region.
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative-designate to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, condemned what he called Israel’s “military escalation” in Syria, urging the Security Council to hold Tel Aviv accountable.
“Israel’s repeated and continuing incursions and airstrikes into Syrian territory, continued violations of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, and its declared intent for an ‘indefinite’ presence and ‘full demilitarization of southern Syria’ are unacceptable, constitute blatant violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and undermine international law and regional stability,” Ahmad said during his comments.
He maintained that Israel’s actions were in direct contravention of the council’s March 14 Presidential Statement, which reaffirmed Syria’s sovereignty and called on all states to refrain from interference that could further destabilize the country.
“Israel must cease its incursions forthwith and this council must hold Israel to its obligations,” he added.
Addressing the broader situation in Syria, Ahmad said the Arab state’s multifaceted challenges — political, economic, security and humanitarian — required a “holistic and coordinated response.”
He reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process, calling it key to achieving lasting peace.
Welcoming Syria’s new interim Constitution as a “critical step” toward restoring the rule of law, Ahmad also described last month’s National Dialogue Conference as a “positive development.”
He expressed hope that the forthcoming appointment of an interim government, legislative council, and constitutional committee would reflect Syria’s diversity and promote inclusive governance.
Ahmad warned that Syria’s economic crisis — marked by cash shortages, fuel deficits, and rising prices — was worsening the humanitarian situation.
He called for robust international support for the UN’s transitional action plan focused on poverty reduction, refugee reintegration and institutional capacity-building.
“In this regard, lifting of unilateral sanctions is imperative to facilitating reconstruction and aid efforts,” he said, adding that a reassessment and drawdown of the UN sanctions regime was also warranted to ensure that vital economic and humanitarian initiatives were not obstructed.
Pakistan criticizes Israeli strikes in Syria, calls them ‘unacceptable’ breach of sovereignty
https://arab.news/2wu44
Pakistan criticizes Israeli strikes in Syria, calls them ‘unacceptable’ breach of sovereignty
- Israel has intensified its military activity in Syria following the downfall of the Assad regime, citing security concerns
- Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad says Israel must cease its incursions and the UNSC must hold Tel Aviv accountable
Italian officials go on trial over shipwreck that killed Pakistanis among 94 migrants
- Thirty-five children were among those killed when the boat crashed on the rocks off the coast of the tourist town of Cutro in 2023
- They are accused of involuntary manslaughter and “culpable shipwreck,” a crime in the Italian penal code punishing negligent actions
ROME: Six members of Italy’s police and coast guard go on trial Friday over a 2023 shipwreck that killed at least 94 migrants, accused of failing to intervene on time.
The disaster off the southern Calabrian coast was Italy’s worst in a decade and set off a firestorm of criticism against far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s tough stance on the thousands of migrants who arrive by boat each year from North Africa.
Thirty-five children were among those killed when the boat crashed on the rocks off the coast of the tourist town of Cutro on February 26, 2023.
Four officers from Italy’s Guardia di Finanza (GDF) financial crimes police and two members of the coast guard are standing trial in nearby Crotone.
They are accused of involuntary manslaughter and “culpable shipwreck,” a crime in the Italian penal code punishing negligent actions or omissions leading to a shipwreck.
The overcrowded boat had set sail from Turkiye carrying people from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Syria. Around 80 survived.
Dozens of bodies washed up along the beach, their coffins later filling much of a nearby sports hall — brown wood for the adults, white for the children.
Authorities say more people may have perished in the shipwreck, their bodies never found.
’Negligent’
The charges against the officers relate to a search-and-rescue operation that never came, despite the boat having been tracked for hours.
A plane from European Union border agency Frontex had spotted the vessel in difficulty some 38 kilometers off the coast and flagged it to Italian authorities.
But a boat subsequently sent by the GDF police turned back due to the bad weather, and the migrant boat eventually capsized on rocks near the beach.
Prosecutors accuse the police of having failed to communicate key information to the coast guard, while the coast guard members allegedly failed to collect details from police that would have alerted them to the situation’s urgency.
Liborio Cataliotti, a lawyer for defendant Alberto Lippolis from the GDF — who ran the air and naval command center from Calabria’s other coast — told AFP his client was “very calm” heading into trial.
He said his client is being held responsible for subordinates not having provided more information.
All those on trial worked from various control centers far from the site of the shipwreck.
More migrants feared dead
Charity groups that operate search-and-rescue boats in the Mediterranean, including SOS Humanity and Mediterranea Saving Humans, are civil parties to the case.
They say the tragedy points to the policy of Meloni’s hard-right government of treating migrant boats as a law enforcement issue rather than a humanitarian one.
Human Rights Watch’s acting deputy director for Europe and Central Asia, Judith Sunderland, said it was not only the individual officers on trial, but also “Italian state policies that prioritize deterring and criminalizing asylum seekers and migrants over saving lives.”
Visiting Cutro after the tragedy, Meloni put the onus for the disaster squarely on the shoulders of human traffickers, announcing toughened penalties for those who cause migrant deaths.
Two men accused of trafficking the migrants on the boat, one Turkish and the other Syrian, were sentenced to two decades in prison in 2024.
In December that year, two Pakistanis and a Turk were convicted by a court in Crotone for their lesser roles in managing the migrants on board, with sentences from 14 to 16 years.
Around 66,000 migrants landed on Italy’s shores last year, a similar number to 2024, down from more than 157,000 in 2023, according to Italian government officials.
But many lost their lives trying to make the journey.
At least 1,340 people died while crossing the central Mediterranean last year, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).
On Monday, the agency said it feared for the lives of over 50 people missing after a shipwreck off the coast of Libya during the recent Storm Harry.
Days earlier, one-year-old twin girls were reported missing after their boat hit bad weather crossing from Tunisia to Italy.
