ISTANBUL: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday called for immediate action to halt the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“What is happening today in Gaza is an unprecedented tragedy unfolding at an unimaginable scale,” Dar said at the extraordinary meeting of the D-8 Council of Foreign Ministers held in Istanbul.
The meeting was convened by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss the dire situation in Gaza and potential collective action.
Pakistan’s foreign minister also highlighted the staggering toll of over 40,000 Palestinians killed and 81,000 injured, with a significant number of victims being women and children.
“The world is witnessing indiscriminate killings of civilians,” he said, condemning the systematic bombing of hospitals and vital infrastructure by Israeli forces.
He pointed out the severe impact on Gaza’s healthcare system, citing the World Health Organization’s report that only 12 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are functional, and that 84% of all health facilities are either destroyed or damaged.
“Israel’s incessant and brutal aggression is a blatant attempt to wipe out the Palestinian population,” Dar said, urging immediate international action against what he termed “one of the worst massacres of our time.”
‘War crimes’
Highlighting the use of starvation as a weapon of war, Dar condemned recent attacks on aid convoys and the seizure of the Rafah border crossing by Israeli settlers.
“This is a whole new and horrific chapter in the history of war crimes under international humanitarian law,” he said.
He called for an immediate cease-fire and the unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, emphasizing the need to stop the collective punishment of Palestinians.
Dar also stressed the importance of implementing the International Court of Justice’s order to halt Israel’s military offensive in Rafah, noting that this was the third such order issued this year.
He reiterated Pakistan’s unwavering support for a just and lasting peace in the occupied Palestinian territories, calling for Israel’s withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
“Silence and inaction in the face of outrageous killings, mistreatment, and relocation of the Palestinians is not an option,” Dar said.
He urged the D-8 nations to leverage their political and economic influence to end the suffering of the Palestinian people, coordinate humanitarian assistance, and support the rebuilding efforts in Gaza.
Dar said that Pakistan had already sent eight relief consignments to Gaza but stressed that the magnitude of the devastation requires extraordinary international effort.
“Let’s come together and act now in lending meaningful support to our Palestinian brethren,” he urged, calling for a united front to stop Israel’s “inhumane and barbaric brutalities.”
