‘Tragedy of epic proportions’: Pakistan urges UNSC to call for unconditional ceasefire in Gaza

Pakistan on Friday expressed deep concern over “heinous crimes” committed by Israel against the Palestinian people and urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to call for an “urgent and unconditional ceasefire” in Gaza.

On Oct 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza and killed 1,400 Israelis, according to officials, while also taking more than 200 hostages.

In retaliation, Israel blockaded the strip and launched a brutal assault, which has since killed more than 10,000 Palestinians, mostly children. Thousands of people have also been forced to leave their homes and move toward the south as fierce battles between Hamas and Israeli forces are under way in the north.

While the death toll mounts and thousands of other civilians remain at risk in Gaza, Israel has repeatedly refused calls for a ceasefire. On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to daily four-hour “military pauses” in the north of the enclave for humanitarian purposes.

In a weekly press briefing today, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahrah Baloch said the people of Gaza had been subjected to the worst forms of collective punishment.

“Israeli forces are committing crimes against humanity with impunity,” she stated, lamenting Israel’s indiscriminate massacres of defenceless civilians and deliberate attempts to deprive them of food, water, shelter and medical care.

“The use of phosphorous bombs and threats of nuclear holocausts are being made against people under occupation who are being forcibly evicted from their land,” Baloch pointed out.

While calling the situation in Gaza “a tragedy of epic proportions”, she called on the UNSC — which is expected to meet today to deliberate upon the situation in the Mideast — to take action.

“The UNSC must act to fulfil its responsibility to uphold peace and call for urgent and unconditional ceasefire, lifting of siege and commencement of rapid unhindered humanitarian assistance,” the spokesperson said.

Abettors of Israel, she continued, must prevail upon it to “abandon plans for settler colonialism, forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people”.

“As an occupying power, Israel must fulfil its obligations under the 4th Geneva Convention and end its carnage in Gaza,” Baloch added.

In response to a question, the spokesperson also clarified that Pakistan’s position on Israel was clear. “We have no relations or economic ties with Israel,” she asserted.

She further stated that caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar will attend an extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic Council that will take place on Nov 11 (Saturday) in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh.

The summit has been convened “in response to the unprecedented Israeli attacks on Gaza […], which pose a grave threat to civilians and precipitate a humanitarian crisis”.

PM Kakar, Baloch continued, would depart for Riyadh today along with Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani.

At both meetings, “Pakistan would continue to play its role to advance the international consensus and galvanise efforts for an urgent end to Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people”, she added.