Monitoring Desk
NEW YORK: Pakistan Wednesday urged the United Nations (UN) Security Council to act “swiftly and resolutely” to stop several of Israel’s human rights abuses in the occupied Palestinian territory and its ongoing provocations at the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Pakistan asked the Security Council to uphold international law and bring the resolutions on the Middle East issue into effect. The two-State formula, which calls for the creation of an independent state of Palestinian alongside Israel, offers the only resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, according to Ambassador Munir Akram, who spoke during the 15-member Council’s discussion of the situation in the Middle East.
The rising extremism in the Israeli leadership must not be allowed to exclude this solution, the Pakistani envoy said, referring specifically to the new extreme right-wing government in Israel led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Violations of UN Security Council resolutions
The Pakistani Ambassador stated that there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Israel’s activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, including the appropriation of land and properties for Israeli settlements, violence against unarmed Palestinian children, women, and men, the closure of Gaza, and the destruction of Holy Al-Aqsa, are all grave violations of UN Security Council resolutions and international law, particularly humanitarian law.
The Security Council meeting followed a strong statement signed by more than 90 countries, including Pakistan, expressing “grave concern” over Israel’s punitive measures against the Palestinian leadership, people, and civil society in response to a UN General Assembly resolution calling on the International Court of Justice to issue an opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s unlawful occupation of Palestinian lands. Regardless of how they felt about the historic resolution passed by the 193-member
Assembly, the signatories demanded that Israel reverse its actions, stating that “we reject punitive measures in response to a request for an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).”
The Pakistani representative said in his remarks that they eagerly await the International Court of Justice’s advisory decision on the legal ramifications of Israeli occupations. He declared that we expect the Court’s ruling to force Israel to answer for its crimes committed in occupied Palestinian areas.
Ambassador Akram voiced concern over Israel’s continued acts of aggression, incitement, and provocation against Islamic and Christian holy places, particularly Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, noting that 2022 was among the deadliest for the Palestinian people.
He declared that Pakistan strongly condemned the Israeli Minister of National Security’s provocative visit to the grounds of the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque. Muslims all over the world regard Al-Aqsa as a sacred location. Since Muslims have protected the Holy Al-Aqsa for fourteen centuries, any violation of its sanctity offends Muslim religious sensibilities worldwide, escalating the tense situation in the occupied. Palestinian territories, and could severely impact regional and global peace and security.
He continued, “Pakistan demands complete respect for the status quo and international law at Al-Aqsa and all other holy sites in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and rejects all Israeli initiatives and attempts to change the historical and legal status quo of the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif. Every following generation of Palestinians will continue to fight for their independence and basic rights, including their right to self-determination, even if they are dispossessed and disempowered by Israel.
