We call on Israel backers to urge Israel to end its barbaric attacks & inhuman siege against Gaza: FO Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch

ISLAMABAD, Dec 07 (SABAH): Pakistan welcomes the United Nations Secretary General’s decision to invoke Article-99 of the UN Charter to bring attention of the UN Security Council towards the dire security situation and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

At her weekly media briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said this decision of UN Secretary General António Guterres demonstrates his conscionable assessment of the catastrophic situation in Gaza.

The FO Spokesperson said Pakistan strongly and unequivocally condemns the continuous use of force by Israel and its indiscriminate acts on civilians, civilian facilities and infrastructure in a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said as the Secretary-General has underscored in his letter to the President of the UN Security Council that ‘civilians throughout Gaza face grave danger’ and ‘nowhere is safe in Gaza.’ There is a severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian lifeline essential for survival.

She said the situation is fast deteriorating with potentially irreversible implications for Palestine and for peace and security in the region. Such an outcome must be avoided at all costs.

The Spokesperson said we join the UN Secretary General in his call to the international community to end the ongoing situation and avert a humanitarian catastrophe.

She said the UN Security Council must perform its primary responsibility under the UN Charter, impose an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and protect the people of Gaza from an impending genocide.

The Spokesperson said we call on Israel backers to urge Israel to end its barbaric attacks and inhuman siege against Gaza. We also call for an international conference for long-term peace and the Palestinian question.

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said durable peace in the region will emerge from the internationally agreed two-state solution and from the creation of a secure, viable, contiguous and sovereign state of Palestine on the basis of pre-June 1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

Turning to Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), the FO Spokesperson said the Wednesday’s decision by the Indian Parliament to pass a legislation pertaining to the future of Illegally Indian Jammu and Kashmir, is yet another farce to perpetuate India’s occupation and to deny the people of Jammu and Kashmir their right to self-determination.

She said Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally-recognized disputed territory, whose final disposition is to be made in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions and as per the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. Any other process cannot serve as a substitute to the right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people.

The FO Spokesperson said Pakistan has never recognized India’s occupation of Jammu and Kashmir. It has repeatedly rejected the relevance of the Indian Constitution to this disputed territory. We therefore, categorically reject any measures that perpetuate India’s occupation.

She said Pakistan will continue to extend political, diplomatic and moral support to our Kashmiri brothers and sisters for the just and peaceful settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.