ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari this week condemned Israel for its recent strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, demanding the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the area and expressing solidarity with the people of Lebanon.
Israel carried out an airstrike on the Ain Al-Helweh camp in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, which Lebanese authorities said killed at least 13 people. Israel said the strike was carried out at a Hamas training compound, alleging that 13 fighters associated with the group were killed.
The Pakistani president congratulated Lebanon on its Independence Day, celebrated on Nov. 22 every year, adding that ties between Islamabad and Beirut will remain strong.
“We strongly condemn Israeli aggression,” Zardari said in a statement issued from the president’s official residence. “We demand the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon.”
The Pakistani president said Islamabad fully supports Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, urging the international community to uphold the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East.
He called for the safe return of displaced Lebanese citizens.
The crowded Ain Al-Helweh camp, located on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon, is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon.
Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon despite a ceasefire agreed last November that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hamas ally Hezbollah, including two months of full-blown war.
