Pakistan urges UNSC to press Israel on settlements in occupied Palestinian territory

Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, called for an end to the Israeli occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), saying that “the ultimate goal is the end of Israeli occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).

“The establishment of an independent, sovereign, and contiguous State of Palestine on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds and Al-Sharif as its capital, remains the only guarantee for lasting peace in the region”, said Ahmad while addressing the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

“It is time for the Security Council to undertake a holistic assessment of the situation across all of the occupied Palestinian territory and firmly tackle the obstacles to peace. First, the Council must compel Israel to immediately and completely cease all settlement activities, which constitute a flagrant violation of international law,” he said.

“Second, all attempts at annexation of land, demolitions, forced evictions, and displacements of Palestinians must be halted and reversed. The Palestinian population must be protected from settler violence, and all perpetrators must be fully held to account. The Council must reiterate its firm rejection of forced displacement,” said the ambassador.

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“Third, the Council must bring pressure to bear on Israel, the occupying power to release without further delay the revenues of the Palestinian Authority to address the mounting fiscal crisis. Fourth, the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict and Resolution 2803 must be fully implemented”, he added.

Referring to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Iftikhar said, “In Gaza, while the Board of Peace has overseen improvements in humanitarian conditions, the situation remains dire. Widespread hunger, severe shortages of clean water and medical care, inadequate sanitation, and the unchecked spread of disease have left more than 90 per cent of the population living in catastrophic conditions.

Despite the ceasefire, 981 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed. The recent report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry is a scathing indictment of the deliberate targeting and killing of Palestinian children by the Israeli occupation forces. There must be accountability for this”.

On developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, he said: “What we are witnessing in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) is not a series of isolated incidents, but a deliberate and systemic pattern. This is an ecosystem of occupation in which settlement expansion, annexation, demolitions, forced evictions, displacement, and revenue withholding are mutually reinforcing – enabled by both brute military force and a legal juggernaut designed to legitimize the illegitimate.

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“This is not chaos; it is a calculated framework to entrench illegal Israeli occupation,” he said.

Highlighting the situation in the West Bank, Iftikhar said, “The West Bank is witnessing its largest and deadliest wave of settlement expansion and highest sustained levels of settler violence”.

The Secretary-General’s report documents that 4,750 housing units were advanced or approved during the reporting period, including 34 settlements approved in a single cabinet decision – the highest to date,” he further added.