ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s UN envoy this week called for an end to Israel’s exploitation of the natural resources of Palestinian lands, urging Tel Aviv to comply with its obligations under international law and relevant UN resolutions.

UN committees in the past have urged Israel to stop exploiting natural resources that belong to Palestinians. The UN Economic and Financial Committee, released in November 2025, overwhelmingly adopted a resolution recognizing the Palestinian people’s permanent sovereignty over natural resources in East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan. The resolution called on Israel to cease exploiting natural resources in these territories and recognizes the Palestinian right to claim compensation for such exploitation.

According to a UN report released this year on the economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on Palestinians, 91.7 percent of total cropland in Gaza had been damaged as of mid-August. The report also said that after the October 2025 ceasefire, an FAO-UN Satellite Center assessment found that only 36.8 percent of cropland was accessible, while only 4 percent of total cropland remained both accessible and undamaged.

The report also said that in the Gaza Strip, damage to desalination infrastructure, combined with severe constraints on electricity supply, fuel, connectivity and access, has sharply reduced Gaza’s freshwater production.

“Madam chair, permanent sovereignty over natural resources is inseparable from the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination,” Muhammad Faheem, second secretary of Pakistan’s permanent mission to the UN, said at the Second Committee of the UN General Assembly on Friday.

“Israel must cease its unlawful practices, including exploitation of Palestinian natural resources, and comply with its obligations under international law and relevant UN resolutions,” he added.

The Pakistani envoy noted that Israel’s policies and practices in Palestine have devastated the area’s economy and deprived the people of their land and natural resources. He said this has systematically undermined the foundations of their development and future prosperity.

He said called on the cessation of all illegal settlement activity in the West Bank and other areas, including the occupied Syrian Golan, noting that expansions have also led to agricultural land and water resources being exploited there.

Pakistan, which does not diplomatically recognize Israel, has consistently criticized it for its military operations in Gaza and the Middle East.

Islamabad has led diplomatic efforts and galvanized the OIC body to condemn Israel’s military operations in the Middle East, particularly Gaza, since it launched its war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.