PARIS, Oct 19 (APP): Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad on Thursday termed as unfortunate the silence over repeated and flagrant violation of international humanitarian law against innocent civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Speaking at the 217th session of the UNESCO Executive Board on Palestine, he said the 15 year long illegal blockade of Gaza had emboldened the perpetrators of such crimes.
“It is the silence, and unwillingness to call out the aggression and illegal occupation – for over seven decades – that is at the core of this dispute,” he said.
The ambassador said Pakistan had publicly pronounced its position and strong condemnation of the air strike on the Gaza hospital.
He said the government was also taking necessary measures to dispatch humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
He said the silence was intellectual bankruptcy and needed serious introspection to do justice.
“We call on the international community to take urgent measures to bring an immediate end to the Israeli bombardment and siege of Gaza,” he said.
He said the international community must also work in concert for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace with a viable, sovereign and contiguous State of Palestine on the basis of pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
