KARACHI: Pakistan demands an immediate end to the suffering of the Palestinian people, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday, on the 78th anniversary of Nakba.
The Nakba, meaning “catastrophe” in Arabic, is observed on May 15 each year to remind the world of the mass displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 war, which led to the creation of Israel.
Pakistan does not recognize Israel and has consistently called for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and pre-1967 Arab-Israel war, with Al Quds Al Sharif as its capital.
In a post on X, Sharif said his country and its people remember the enduring suffering and displacement of the Palestinians from their homeland.
"Pakistan reaffirms its unwavering solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters," he said. "We demand an immediate end to the oppression, occupation, and violence being perpetrated by Israeli occupation authorities against Palestinians."
In his message on Nakba Day, President Asif Ali Zardari reaffirmed Pakistan's unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian people in their just struggle for self-determination, freedom and dignity.
"For the Palestinian people, the Nakba is not a closed chapter of history. It remains a continuing reality marked by occupation, displacement, dispossession and denial of rights," he said.
"On this solemn day, Pakistan calls upon the international community to ensure continued support for the Palestinian people, particularly Palestinian refugees. The Right of Return of Palestinian refugees, as affirmed in [UN] Resolution 194, remains unfulfilled and must be upheld."
The comments came a day after Pakistan’s envoy to the United Nations, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, on Friday called for an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories, saying the Nakba should not continue into another generation of Palestinians.
Addressing the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People on Nakba Day, Ahmad said the world was witnessing a new Nakba in Gaza that must be stopped.
More than 72,000 people have been killed and the majority of Palestinians displaced due to Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. Shortages of food, water, medicine, and fuel continue because of restricted aid access. Gaza remains in a dire humanitarian crisis despite a fragile ceasefire reached late last year.
“The Nakba must not be allowed to continue into another generation of Palestinians. It must end through justice, accountability, and the vocation of illegal occupation,” Ahmad said.
“For millions of Palestinian refugees, the international community must ensure its continued political and financial support,” he added. “On this solemn anniversary, remembrance alone is not enough.”
