WNAM REPORT: A senior Pakistani diplomat has warned that the UN Security Council was failing to provide relief to the Palestinians who continue to suffer in occupied territories from deadly Israeli bombings, starvation, displacement and collective punishment, as he sounded a clarion call for action to redress the situation.
“What is happening before our eyes is a travesty — It is unacceptable — the Council must act,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the 15-member Council which met again in emergency session on Thursday to discuss the worsening situation in occupied Palestinian territories.
“We cannot be part of a body that remains a mere spectator and does nothing; We refuse to be part of this moral bankruptcy, and … ‘erosion of humanity’,” he said in a emotion-charged speech.
Algeria — with the backing of Pakistan, China, Russian and Somalia — convened the meeting in the wake of the recent discovery of a mass grave in Gaza — in which the bodies of 15 humanitarian workers were interred,
The ongoing grave humanitarian crisis in Gaza and beyond reflects the Security Council’s inaction, which is setting a dangerous precedent, Ambassador Asim insisted. Given the impunity with which Israel is violating all norms of civilized conduct including UN Security Council resolutions, ceasefire agreement, international law, UN Charter and the Geneva Conventions, the Palestinian people are left questioning whether the Security Council will ever take meaningful steps or merely be confined to lamenting their suffering.
“Our failure (to act) not only undermines this institution but also erodes the international order built on the UN Charter,” the Pakistani envoy said.
“The Council must assert its relevance by ensuring the implementation of its own decisions before it is rendered inconsequential.”
“While Gaza burns, the West Bank witnesses its own Nakba,” he said, pointing out that over 40,000 Palestinians have been driven from their home, ninety-nine lives lost since January, with Israel’s intending to permanently colonize and annex the occupied
“Equally concerning are Israel’s plans to seize territory in Gaza, including the establishment of a so-called “security corridor, ” the Pakistani envoy said, warning that this would be a dangerous escalation and a violation of international law.
“We also condemn the Israel’s deliberate violation of Al-Aqsa Mosque’s sanctity—an act of provocation and a clear breach of religious freedom protections under international law.”
Gaza, he said, has descended into an abyss of suffering, which is manifest from the way unarmed civilians including children, and women, humanitarian workers, UN personnel, and journalists as well as civilian infrastructure such as hospitals and schools are being attacked indiscriminately.
“Nothing is spared – not even the historic cultural sites. It is total annihilation, a situation where fundamental principles of humanitarian law are being disregarded with impunity,” he stated.
Ambassador Asim said that since breaking the ceasefire last month, Israel has killed over 1,100 Palestinians, adding to the more than 50,000 slaughtered between October 2023 and January 2025— including 17,000 children. “This is not just warfare; it is the systematic destruction of a people.”
He highlighted that for a month now, Israel has sealed all border crossings, blocking humanitarian aid with no food or medical supplies being allowed entry in Gaza. He said that according to UNICEF, one million children are without basic necessities, while WFP warns of imminent famine.
“Starvation as a weapon of war is a war crime,” he warned.
Condemning the deliberate targeting of aid convoys including the killing of 15 humanitarian workers on March 23, Ambassador Asim pointed out that more than 400 humanitarian workers, including 284 personnel of UNRWA, the agency to assist Palestinians, have been killed—the highest toll in modern history.
“When UN staff and humanitarian workers are gunned down with impunity, we must ask: what remains of the global order we built from the ashes of World War II?,” he posed the question to the delegates.
In this regard, Ambassador Asim reaffirmed Pakistan’ calls for:
Immediate halt to hostilities and full implementation of the January 19 ceasefire, including its extension to the West Bank; Lifting of Israel’s illegal blockade to ensure unrestricted humanitarian aid access;
Safeguarding UN staff and aid workers, with a UN-led Dashboard tracking violations and ensure accountability;
Preventing the forced removal of Palestinians or annexation of their land and Reviving a credible peace process towards a sovereign Palestinian state, with pre-1967 borders and al-Quds al-Sharif as its capital.
“It is our collective responsibility to translate the will of the international community to concrete actions – to finally move towards a just and durable peace in the region that is in the interest of all, Ambassador Asim said in conclusion.
Earlier, the UN human-rights Chief warned the Council of a high and increasing risk that atrocity crimes are being committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
“I am appalled by the recent killing of 15 medical personnel and humanitarian aid workers, which raise further concerns over the commission of war crimes by the Israeli military,” said Volker Tujrk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Pointing out that a month has passed since the Israeli military imposed a complete blockade on vital aid and supplies to Gaza, Turk underscored: “The blockade and siege imposed on Gaza amount to collective punishment and may also amount to the use of starvation as a method of war.”
He also noted that, as of 1 April, the World Food Programme (WFP) shut its 25 bakeries in Gaza leaving many without access to bread and he spotlighted a “return to the breakdown of social order that preceded the ceasefire”.
Additionally, he said that inflammatory rhetoric by senior Israeli officials regarding seizing, dividing and controlling territory “raises grave concerns about the commission of international crimes”.
Further noting that the situation in the West Bank is “extremely alarming”, he said that the announcement that residents must not return to their homes for a year “raises serious concerns about long-term mass displacement”.
While “nothing can justify” the horrific attacks committed on 7 October 2023, the UN rights chief stressed that the same is true for the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.
Urging immediate restoration of the ceasefire in Gaza, he warned: “There is a high and increasing risk that atrocity crimes are being committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
“Many appalling records have been broken in this war,” observed Younes Al-Khatib, President of the Palestine Red Crescent Society. The war on Gaza, he said, has seen the greatest number of aid workers killed in any conflict.
Recently, a mission coordinated by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs uncovered a mass grave, where 15 first responders including eight Palestine Red Crescent Society paramedics, six civil-defence members and one UN officer were buried. “They were killed while on mission to save lives,” he said.
Noting the Society’s documentation of the mission’s timeline, as well as dispatch communications and what one team “had witnessed when they went back to the scene”, he added that Asad Al-Nasasra, a Society member, had reported that his team was being fired upon and that several colleagues were injured. He is still missing.
“We call on the Israeli occupation forces to provide information on his fate,” he urged. Also calling for a thorough investigation and the immediate resumption of aid delivery, he added: “We call on the Security Council — and on the whole international community to spare no effort to return to the ceasefire.”
