Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani leading Pakistan’s delegation in an urgent open-ended Ministerial Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called for “an immediate end to Israeli terror campaign” against Palestinians.
At least 500 Palestinians were martyred in an explosion at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday pushing the overall death toll — due to Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip — beyond 3,000 as Palestinian health officials said it happened because of an Israeli air attack.
During the OIC’s ministerial moot — co-convened by Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Jeddah — the foreign minister denounced the Israeli aggression and inhumane blockade of Gaza that has resulted in death, destruction and displacement, the Foreign Office said Wednesday.
Condemning Israeli violation of international human rights law, Jilani called on the international community to hold Israel accountable for its use of indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force which amounts to war crimes.
“Israel must bring an immediate end to its campaign of terror with an immediate ceasefire, lifting the siege of Gaza, and rescinding forced evacuation of Palestinians from their homes,” he said while underscoring the need for “secure and unrestricted” humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza.
Terming the non-implementation of the two-state solution as the reason behind the ongoing conflict, he reiterated Pakistan’s support for the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and called for “an early establishment of a viable, secure, contiguous and sovereign state of Palestine on the basis of the pre-June 1967 borders and with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.”
The foreign minister also held a meeting with his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan on the sidelines of the OIC’s ministerial meet.
