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Mr President,
We appreciate the briefings given today.
We thank the UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, for his untiring statesmanship to resolve the crisis in the Middle East despite very difficult circumstances. We also commend the efforts being made by Egypt and the US to de-escalate the crisis and promote diplomacy.
We associate ourselves with the statements made by the OIC, the Arab Group and the Non-Aligned Movement.
We regret that this Assembly, which has always demanded to play a more active role in the maintenance of international peace and security, is meeting so late, and that too in an informal setting, with its members serving as a mere sounding board. No decision is on the anvil. In the past four weeks, the Assembly has not pronounced itself on the situation in Gaza, while the Human Rights Council was able to pass a full bodied resolution.
Mr. President,
The human rights and humanitarian dimensions of the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are a direct consequence of the denial of the fundamental right to self-determination of the Palestinian people. The question is very simple: Will Israel accept Palestine as a sovereign, viable and geographically contiguous state? This, as we know from years of diplomacy, is possible only through a two-state solution. This solution is unfortunately being scuttled. One-state solution is good neither for Israel nor for Palestine.
The Government of Pakistan has strongly condemned Israel's atrocities in Gaza. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has called on the international community to play its vital role in putting an end to the brutal Israeli aggression against Palestinians which amounts to genocide. The people of Pakistan are outraged at the scale of flagrant violence in disregard of all norms of humanity.
The full-scale Israeli offensive by air, land and sea has left more than 1,800 Gazans dead, 408 of them children and 214 women. More than 9,500 have been injured; 520,000 displaced. Sixty five thousand people say their houses have been destroyed.
The force used by Israel has been disproportionate, indiscriminate and lethal. The established norms of international humanitarian law - distinction, proportionality and precaution - were cast aside. The whole territory of Gaza has been wrecked and ravaged. Most of Gaza is a wasteland. This was no war between two equals; there was no symmetry.
Pakistan condoles with the Palestinians over their grievous losses, as well as with the families of UNRWA officials who gave their lives in the cause of peace.
We welcome the 72-hour ceasefire announced yesterday. But this ceasefire is fragile. The situation in Gaza is grim and grave. It is imperative that the temporary ceasefire is consolidated and turned into a more enduring ceasefire. No step should be taken by either side that would imperil lives again.
The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza continues unabated. Efforts should be intensified to help UNRWA to sustain its relief, recovery and rehabilitation operations. The devastated Gaza will take years to rebuild itself.
More than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned since June this year must be released.
The blockade of Gaza must be lifted forthwith to put an end to the collective punishment of the people of that territory.
We call for the implementation of the Human Rights Council's decision to constitute an international commission of inquiry to investigate violations of international human rights and humanitarian law; as well as its call for reconvening the Conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The killings in Gaza have overshadowed the continuing gross and consistent human rights violations in the wider OPT, including East Jerusalem. These violations must cease.
It is important that the peace process is revived to find a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders leading to a sovereign Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side with Israel in peace and harmony. For that, Israelis and Palestinians should build minimal trust for meaningful communication and result-oriented negotiations. If the ultimate objective is peaceful coexistence between Palestine and Israel, war is the most detrimental instrument to pursue it.
Finally, it is time that the Quartet speaks up for engagement, conflict resolution and lasting peace. It is time for it to assume its rightful role even if its initial endeavors would not bear fruit.
I thank you, Mr. President.