Key points
- Call airstrike “blatant violation of sovereignty”
- Pakistan’s deputy premier meets Egyptian foreign minister in Doha
- Both countries reaffirm their “unwavering support for the Palestinian cause”
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Egypt on Sunday condemned the Israeli airstrike on Qatar on the sidelines of the preparatory foreign ministers’ meeting for the Emergency Arab-Islamic Summit in Doha.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar met with his Egyptian counterpart, Foreign Minister Dr Badr Abdelatty, in Qatar’s capital, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
“Blatant violations of sovereignty”
“They condemned illegal Israeli strikes on Qatar and other Muslim nations, terming them blatant violations of sovereignty and international law. Both reaffirmed their unwavering support for the Palestinian cause and stressed the urgent need for unity across the Muslim Ummah,” the ministry said.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with the attack in Doha on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing United States-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict.
Escalating tensions
The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge, while Pakistan on Friday pledged its support to Qatar for the defence of its sovereignty.
Earlier on Saturday, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke with Dr Badr Abdelatty about the recent developments in the Middle East as well as the OIC foreign ministers’ meeting in Doha.
“Both leaders strongly condemned the Israeli unprovoked illegal strikes on Doha, and discussed the modalities and details of the forthcoming OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Doha, scheduled for Sunday, 14 September,” the Pakistani Foreign Office said after their conversation.
