UNITED NATIONS (APP): A senior Pakistani diplomat has called for “concrete steps” by the United Nations to stop the Israeli slaughter of the people in Gaza, as he underscored that a lasting end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only come through a two-state solution.
“It is now time for the Security Council, for the entire membership of the United Nations, to consider measures by which to reverse this wanton rejection of peace,” Ambassador Munir Akram told the 15-member body on Tuesday, referring to the repudiation of the two-state formula by Israel.
“We hope the Council will be able, finally, to adopt a resolution demanding a complete cessation of hostilities, full access to humanitarian assistance for the besieged population of Gaza, and international protection for the Palestinian people,” he said in a high-level Council debate on the Middle East crisis.
Tuesday’s meeting featured more than 60 speakers, including many ministers, who discussed the need for a humanitarian ceasefire, the urgency with which to scale up aid, the importance of pursuing a two-State solution and the imperative to avoid further regional escalation.
Deploring Israel’s defiance of world opinion, Ambassador Akram said, “If the Israeli leadership persists in refusing peace, the Security Council, the General Assembly, and indeed all UN Member States, must take steps to hold it accountable.
“There are numerous precedents of measures that can be taken to persuade compliance with decisions of the Security Council and the General Assembly, the Pakistani envoy added, without specifying those steps.
“In order to ensure the inevitability of the two-State solution, it is also time to admit Palestine as a full member of the United Nations,” he stressed. Palestine currently has observer status at the U.N.
“Unfortunately, despite world opinion, despite the advice of its closest allies, and of many of its own people, the extremist Israeli leadership remains adamant in continuing this brutal war and rejecting the prospect of a Palestinian State and the two-State solution,” Ambassador Akram said.
“This will consign the Middle East to perpetual conflict.”
Describing the harrowing situation left behind by relentless Israeli bombardments of Gaza, Ambassador Akram said, “This brutal and indiscriminate killing of innocents, and the suffering imposed on an entire population, amounts to genocide, as asserted in the case filed by South Africa in the ICJ (International Court of Justice, which is based in the Hague).
“Every tenet of international humanitarian law has been violated by the Israeli occupation,” he told delegates from around the world.
“It is sad that, despite the calls by the General Assembly in two resolutions, despite the near-unanimous votes in this Security Council, the international community has failed to stop this genocide taking place in front of our eyes, the Pakistani envoy said, noting that violence and war have spread to adjacent areas of Palestine – to the Israel-Lebanon border, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
“Unless the Israeli war machine is stopped, there is every likelihood of further escalation in which many nations may be engulfed,” he said.
“A heavy responsibility rests on the Security Council for failing to prevent the continuation of Israel’s war, and its atrocities against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and the accompanying brutalities in the West Bank.”
In conclusion, Ambassador Akram said, “Beyond the eloquent words heard in the Council’s debate today, we look for concrete steps to halt the slaughter of innocents and bring peace to Palestine, to Israel and the Middle East.”
Most countries in the Global South denounced Israel’s deadly war on Gaza and its violence against civilians in the enclave, and called for a humanitarian ceasefire. But diplomats noted that India followed the West’s line, squarely blaming Hamas for the current conflict, while stressing the release of Israeli hostages.
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