UNGA must demand cessation of Israeli hostilities, if Security Council fails to do so: ‘Time to say enough’:

UNGA must demand cessation of Israeli hostilities, if Security Council fails to do so: Qureshi

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi addresses an emergency meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) called to discuss Israel’s devastating violence against the Palestinians on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Thursday urged the UN Security Council (UNSC) to issue a call for an end to Israel’s devastating violence against the Palestinians in Gaza, saying “it is time to say enough.”

Addressing an emergency meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) called to discuss the situation in Gaza, Qureshi said Israel had mounted a “relentless onslaught” on the people of Palestine, resulting in scores of deaths and limited access to food, water, hygiene and health services.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday called upon the United Nations General Assembly to “assume its own responsibility” and push the Security Council to demand a cessation of Israeli hostilities if the Council fails to do so on its own.

Qureshi was addressing the 67th plenary meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York to highlight Israeli atrocities against Palestinians on Thursday.

“There are times in history when decisions of nations are remembered by posterity. This is one such moment,” Qureshi said, as he began his address.

“What we do today or cannot do will be recorded in history. Driven by arrogance and emboldened by impunity, Israel has mounted a relentless onslaught on the occupied and beleaguered people of Palestine,” he said.

He said that one week of Israeli attacks have led to more than 250 Palestinians being killed and thousands injured — one third of which are women and children.

“Death echoes in every home in Gaza,” Qureshi said, to lay stress on the gravity of the situation. He also recalled one such tragedy, in which ten members of the Abu Hattab family had perished in Israeli strikes.

“Hundreds of such tragedies are being enacted every hour in Gaza and other parts of the Palestinian territories. So far over 50,000 Palestinians have fled their homes in Gaza,” he said, adding that these people have very poor and limited access to water, food, hygiene and health services.

The foreign minister said hospitals and sanitation services rely on electricity but fuel for power plants “has almost run out”.

“Gaza has plunged in darkness […] the only light is that of Israeli explosions,” he said.

Qureshi said such is the existence of Palestine, where “in full view of the world Israeli airstrikes bring down entire buildings to kill and terrorise innocent Palestinians and even silence the media”.

“It is time to say enough. The voice of the Palestinian people cannot and will not be silenced,” he said.

The foreign minister said the representatives of the Islamic world are there to speak with and for Palestine.

He said it is “appalling” that the United Nations Security Council has been unable to do what it is tasked with — to maintain international peace and security. He added it has even failed to demand a cessation of hostilities, and warned that those preventing it from doing so “bear a heavy responsibility”.

Qureshi said the United Nations General Assembly, must then, assume its own responsibility. “We must not fail the Palestinian people at this critical juncture.”

“Our first priority must be to halt the Israeli aggression. I hope that even at this eleventh hour, the Security Council will call for a cessation of Israeli attacks. If it fails to do so, the General Assembly must make this demand on behalf of the entire international community,” he said.

Qureshi proceeded to draw attention to the following:

Right to self determination

Qureshi reminded the General Assembly resolution 2649 of November 1970, which speaks of the right to self determination “by any means at their disposal”.

Humanitarian aid to Palestinians

He also urged for the need to mobilise all possible humanitarian help for the devastated Palestinian population in Gaza and other parts of the occupied territories, including medical teams, medicines and other supplied, food and other necessities.

The foreign minister said Pakistan welcomes Egypt opening access to Gaza and Israel should also open all access points to ensure the timely and urgent delivery of international assistance.

Concrete steps to protect Palestinians

Qureshi said the General Assembly should deploy an international protection force for Palestinians. “If the Security Council cannot agree to send the protection force, a coalition of the willing can be formed to provide at least civilian observers to monitor a cessation of hostilities and supervise the provision of humanitarian help to the Palestinians,” he said.

He also called for the protection of Arab citizens in Israel, who are being lynched and murdered by Israeli fascist groups.

Israel must be held accountable

The foreign minister said the General Assembly should condemn the forced evictions of Palestinians from their homes, especially in Sheikh Jarrah, and the continued construction of Jewish settlements.

Israel’s crimes against humanity should not escape accountability, and there should be no impunity for violation of international law, he said.

Keeping this in view, international forums such as the Human Rights Council, the ICC and the ICJ should be activated to ensure Israeli accountability for its war crimes.

End to Israel’s apartheid-like regime

He said efforts for an end to Israel’s occupation and to dismantle the illegal settlements and the apartheid-like regime it has imposed on occupied Palestinian territories must be revived.

“The General Assembly should secure unconditional implementation of Resolution 242 of November 1967 in which the Security Council declared the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and demanded that Israel withdraw its armed forces from territories occupied in the 1967 war,” he said.

Palestinian state

Qureshi said bold steps must be initiated to ensure the UNGA and UNSC resolutions calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state with Al Quds, Al Shareef as the capital.

He said Pakistan supports the call of President Abbas for an international conference to secure a peaceful settlement.

The foreign minister said the onus for restoring peace rests with Israel.

Immediate ceasefire foremost aim

A few hours prior to the joint debate, Qureshi told Geo News that the foremost aim of representatives of Muslim countries gathered for the session will be to demand an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza.

“As soon as I reached New York, I invited all the foreign ministers and their PRs for dinner at the Pakistan House.

“We had a very fruitful meeting and we decided on our action plan for the address tonight,” Qureshi told Geo News.

He said the gathering “deliberated upon what it is that we seek to achieve with a session of the United Nations”.

“Our first aim is to demand an immediate ceasefire. If we are able to achieve this, it will be a big success for us.

“But this matter is perplexing and for a lasting solution we will need to continue our struggle,” the foreign minister noted.

He said Pakistan has “begun to fulfil its role” in the United Nations’ Human Rights Council and a special session of the forum will now be held.

Qureshi said that with the human rights violations that are occurring in Palestinian territories, the way Israel is committing genocide and war crimes, “Pakistan will try from the platform of the OIC to awaken the conscience of all those Western countries who are champions of human rights and will ask them why it is they are turning a blind eye to the violations in Gaza”.

He said all the OIC foreign ministers — there are 11 or 12 — will “meet the UN secretary general and record our protest with him”.

“We have decided to present to him a joint resolution,” he said.

He said a discussion also took place on a General Assembly resolution and a strategy has been adopted but that he does not wish to discuss the matter at this point in time.

‘Pakistan at the forefront of diplomatic efforts’

Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri issued a statement ahead of Qureshi’s address, following his weekly briefing to the media.

“We hope the special meeting of the UN General Assembly will help send a strong message on behalf of the OIC [Organisation of Islamic Cooperation] to the international community to help end the Israeli aggression and to take concrete steps to find a solution to the Palestinian issue,” Chaudhri said.

As part of Pakistan’s intensive diplomatic outreach efforts to mobilise international support, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is currently in New York to participate in the UN General Assembly meeting on the Palestine issue today, he said.

The Foreign Office spokesperson said in clear violation of all humanitarian norms and international human rights laws, Israel had staged series of heavy airstrikes in Gaza, attacked innocent civilians in and outside Al-Aqsa Mosque, forced evictions, and imposed restrictions on fundamental freedoms of the Palestinian people.

“The indiscriminate use of force by the Israeli forces has resulted in deaths and injuries to a large number of innocent Palestinians, including women and children,” he added.

The Foreign Office spokesperson said since the current escalation in Palestine, Pakistan was at the forefront of diplomatic efforts to highlight the worsening situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

“Our outreach efforts are aimed at formulating a unified and unequivocal response from the international community against the Israeli aggression,” he maintained.

The foreign minister had arrived a day earlier along with his counterparts from Turkey, Palestine, Sudan and Tunis.

UN rights council to hold session on Israel, Palestinians

The UN Human Rights Council has said it will hold a special session on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, amid deadly violence between Israel and armed Palestinian groups in Gaza.

The session, planned for next Thursday (May 27), will address “the grave human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,” the council said in a statement.

Pakistan, which is the coordinator of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the Palestinian authorities, has requested the session, the council said.

It will be the 30th extraordinary meeting of the UN’s top rights body since its creation 15 years ago.

The United Nations did not immediately say how many of the Geneva-based council’s 47 member states had backed the call, but at least a third must come out in support for a special session request to be granted.

Israeli strikes continue

Thursday’s announcement came as Israeli air strikes continued to hammer Gaza and as diplomats stepped up efforts towards a ceasefire to stem the devastating violence that erupted 10 days ago.

Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed 230 Palestinians, including 65 children, according to the Gaza health ministry, leaving vast areas in rubble and displacing tens of thousands in the crowded territory.

Israel’s army has meanwhile said Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza have fired 4,070 rockets towards Israel, the overwhelming majority of them intercepted by its Iron Dome air defences.

The rockets have claimed 12 lives in Israel, including one child, with one Indian and two Thai nationals among those killed, the police said.

He said there is no moral or military equivalence between the two sides. Whereas Palestinians have no army, navy or air force, “the Israeli war machine is one of the most powerful in the world”.

“This is a war between a military occupier and an occupied people. It is a conflict between illegal occupation and a legitimate struggle for self determination,” he said.

Hospitals and hygiene services depended on electricity but fuel for the power plants had almost run out, he pointed out.

“As we speak, people in Palestine are being killed with impunity. Death echoes in every home in Gaza. [The enclave] is plunged in darkness literally and metaphorically; the only light is of Israeli explosions.

“This is Palestine where, in full view of the world, Israeli air strikes bring down entire buildings to kill and terrorise innocent Palestinians and even silence the media,” he said while referring to Israel’s destruction of a high-rise building in Gaza City that housed the offices of The Associated Press, Al Jazeera and other media outlets on Saturday.

“It is time to say enough. The voice of the Palestinian people cannot and will not be silenced. We, the representatives of the Islamic world, are here to speak with them and for them.”

The foreign minister said it was “appalling” that the UN Security Council had been “unable to exercise its primary responsibility” of maintaining international peace and security, adding that it had “failed to demand even a cessation of hostilities”.

The countries preventing the UN from putting forth a resolution demanding an end to the violence bore a heavy responsibility, Qureshi said.

“We must not fail the Palestinian people at this critical juncture,” he said and expressed the hope that the UNSC would issue a call for the cessation of Israeli attacks.

“Let us be clear, there is no more room for military equivalence between the beleaguered and occupied Palestinian people who have no army, no navy and no air force, and the Israeli war machine — one of the most powerful in the world.

“This is a war between a military occupier and an occupied people. It is a war between an illegal occupation and a legitimate struggle for self-determination,” he said, pointing to UNGA Resolution 2649 which he said affirmed the legitimacy of the struggle of people under colonial and illegal domination to fight for their right to self-determination using any means at their disposal.

“We should mobilise all possible humanitarian help for the devastated Palestinian population in Gaza and other parts of the occupied territories,” he said, urging the global body to arrange a comprehensive humanitarian assistance programme.

Qureshi said it was necessary to send medical teams, medicines, food and other supplies to Palestine. He called for an international force to be deployed for protection and for Israel to open all access points to Gaza so aid could reach the enclave.

“If the Security Council cannot agree to send the protection force, a coalition of the willing can be formed to provide at least civilian observers to monitor a cessation of hostilities and supervise the provision of humanitarian help to the Palestinians.”

He also called on the UNGA to “condemn Israel’s forced and illegal eviction of Palestinians, including in the district of Sheikh Jarrah and the construction of Jewish settlements”, stressing Israel’s “crimes against humanity should not escape accountability”.

“There should be no immunity for violating international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention,” he said and asked for the activation of UN Human Rights Council, International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ) to ensure that Israel was held accountable for its “war crimes”.

Qureshi said the UN should also revive “concrete efforts to end Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and to dismantle the illegal settlements and apartheid-like regime Israel has imposed in the occupied territories”.

He asked the UNGA to secure unconditional implementation of Resolution 242 in which the UNSC demanded that Israel withdraw its armed forces from territories occupied in the 1967 war.

“It is imperative to initiate bold steps to secure the implementation of the Security Council and General Assembly resolutions calling for the establishment of a viable, independent and contiguous Palestinian state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

“Pakistan endorses [Palestinian] President Abbas’ call for an international conference to secure a peaceful settlement,” he added.

The foreign minister termed the Palestine issue as the reason behind the turmoil and conflicts in the Middle East and the “principle root cause of the humiliation and anger in the Arab and Muslim world”.

He said the onus for restoring peace was on Israel which needed to end its occupation of Palestinian land. “This General Assembly session must send a clear message to Israel and the Palestinian people,” he added.

“It is only through determined and decisive action that this Assembly can restore the credibility of the Unted Nations and demonstrate its effective role in maintaining global peace and world order based on equity and justice,” he concluded.

United stance

The foreign minister arrived in New York on Wednesday evening on a Palestine peace mission and to attend the UNGA emergency meeting, called by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League.

Pakistan has joined hands with Palestine, Sudan and Turkey to take a united stance at the UNGA session. This is the first UN meeting that has seen the physical presence of foreign ministers since the Covid-19 pandemic paralysed the world. Prior to this, the UN had been holding virtual meetings in the wake of the pandemic.

Soon after his arrival in New York, Qureshi hosted a working dinner of the foreign ministers of OIC member states to discuss the situation in Palestine.

“We hope the UNGA meeting will send a strong message … to end the Israeli aggression and to take concrete steps to find a solution to the Palestine issue,” said the foreign minister while addressing the dinner.

A statement issued by Pakistan’s UN mission said that the foreign minister’s visit to New York was part of Pakistan’s intensive diplomatic outreach to mobilise international support for ending the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinians.

The UNGA session follows an intensive international effort to secure a ceasefire in the occupied Palestinian territories after a week of deadly cross-border violence.

Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed 230 Palestinians, including 65 children, according to the Gaza health ministry, leaving vast areas in rubble and displacing tens of thousands in the crowded territory.

Israel’s army has meanwhile said Hamas and other Islamist armed groups in Gaza have fired 4,070 rockets towards Israel, the overwhelming majority of them intercepted by its Iron Dome air defences. The rockets have claimed 12 lives in Israel, including one child, with one Indian and two Thai nationals among those killed, the police said.

Address by Foreign Minister of Pakistan during the Meeting of the UN General Assembly on Palestine
(New York, 20 May 2021)

Statement by the Foreign Minister of Pakistan

وزیرخارجہ مخدوم شاہ محمود قریشی کا فلسطین پر اقوام متحدہ کی جنرل اسمبلی کے خصوصی (ہنگامی) اجلاس سے خطاب
(نیویارک۔ مورخہ 20 مئی 2021)

جناب صدر،
عزت مآب حاضرین، خواتین وحضرات

1۔ قوموں کی زندگی میں ایسے مرحلے آتے ہیں جب ان کے فیصلے آنے والی نسلیں یاد رکھتی ہیں۔

2۔ آج ایک ایسا ہی موقع اور مرحلہ ہمیں درپیش ہے۔

3۔ آج ہم جوکرتے ہیں یا نہیں کرتے، سب تاریخ میں لکھا جائے گا۔

4۔ اسرائیل اپنے غرور اور تکبراور قانونی کارروائی سے استثنی کی بناءفلسطین کے محصور اور مقید لوگوں پر لامتناہی حملوں کا سلسلہ شروع کئے ہوئے ہے۔

5۔ آج اس وقت جب ہم یہاں اظہار خیال کررہے ہیں، فلسطین میں بچوں اور خواتین کو شہید کیاجارہا ہے اور اس کی وجہ بننے والوں کو کوئی پوچھنے والا نہیں۔

6۔ اسرائیلی حملوں میں ایک ہفتے کے دوران 250 سے زائد فلسطینی شہید جبکہ ہزاروں زخمی ہوچکے ہیں۔ ان میں سے ایک تہائی تعداد خواتین اور بچوں کی ہے۔

7۔ غزہ کے ہر گھر میں اس وقت صف ماتم بچھی ہے اور ہر طرف موت کا سایہ ہے۔ اسرائیلی فضائی حملے ابوحاطب کے خاندان کے ہر فرد کی موت کے ذمہ دارہیں۔ اس خاندان کے شہداءمیں دو خواتین اور آٹھ بچے شامل ہیں۔

8۔ ایک لمحے کے لئے اس صورتحال کاتصور کیجئے۔
9۔ غزہ اور فلسطین کے دیگر علاقوں میں ہر گھنٹے میں ایسے بہیمانہ سانحات رونما ہورہے ہیں اور ایسے ہزاروں واقعات ہوچکے ہیں۔

10۔ اب تک 10 ہزار فلسطینی غزہ سے اپنا گھر بار چھوڑ کر نقل مکانی کرنے پر مجبور ہوچکے ہیں۔ پینے کے پانی، خوراک، حفظان صحت اور صحت کی سہولیات تک انہیں محدود نوعیت کی رسائی میسر ہے۔ ہسپتال اور فراہمی آب کے علاوہ نکاسی کی خدمات کا تمام تر انحصار بجلی کی فراہمی پر ہے اور اس ضمن میں ایندھن تقریبا ختم ہوچکا ہے۔

11۔ غزہ ہر لحاظ سے اس وقت اندھیرے میں ڈوبا ہوا ہے ۔ واحد روشنی ان دھماکوں سے ہورہی ہے جو اسرائیل ان پربموں کی صورت برسارہا ہے۔

12۔ یہ ہے فلسطین جہاں اسرائیل پوری دنیا کی آنکھوں کے سامنے بے گناہ فلسطینیوں کو شہید و دہشت زدہ اور میڈیا کی زبان بندی کرنے کے لئے فضائی حملوں میں عمارات کو زمین بوس کررہا ہے۔

13۔ اس ظلم سے اب جان چھڑانے کا وقت آگیا ہے۔

14 فلسطینی عوام کی آواز کو دبایا نہیں جاسکتا اور نہ ہی انہیں خاموش کرایا جاسکتا ہے۔ ہم اسلامی دنیا کے نمائندے یہاں ان کے حق کی بات کرنے آئے ہیں، آج ہم ان کے لئے بول رہے ہیں۔ 

جناب صدر

15۔ یہ خوفناک امر ہے کہ سلامتی کونسل عالمی امن وسلامتی کے قیام کی اپنی بنیادی ذمہ داری انجام دینے کے قابل نہیں۔ سلامتی کونسل جنگ بند کرنے کا مطالبہ کرنے میں بھی ناکام رہی ہے۔ کونسل کو اس کے کام سے روکنے والوں پر بھاری ذمہ د اری عائد ہوتی ہے۔

16۔ ان حالات میں جنرل اسمبلی کو اپنا فرض ادا کرنا ہوگا۔ اس نازک مرحلے پر ہمیں فلسطینی عوام کو مایوس نہیں کرنا۔

جناب صدر
17۔ ہماری پہلی ترجیح یہ ہونی چاہئے کہ اسرائیل اپنی جارحیت روکے۔ مجھے امید ہے کہ اس اہم گھڑی سلامتی کونسل اسرائیل کواپنے حملے روکنے کے لئے کہے گی۔ اگر سلامتی کونسل یہ کام نہیں کرتی تو جنرل اسمبلی کو پوری عالمی برادری کی جانب سے یہ مطالبہ کرنا چاہئے۔

جناب صدر !

18۔ ہمیں واضح پیغام دینا ہے۔ محصور اور مقید فلسطینیوں کا اسرائیلی جنگی مشین کے مقابلے میں کوئی اخلاقی یا فوجی مقابلہ یا موازنہ نہیں۔ دونوں میں کوئی برابری نہیں۔ فلسطین کے پاس نہ کوئی بری فوج ہے، نہ بحریہ ہے اور نہ ہی کوئی فضائیہ ہے۔ دوسری جانب اسرائیل ہے جو دنیا کی طاقور ترین فوجی قوت کا حامل ہے۔ یہ جنگ قابض فوج اورمقبوضہ عوام کے درمیان ہے۔ یہ غیرقانونی قبضے اور استصواب رائے کی جائز جدوجہد کے درمیان لڑائی ہے۔

19۔ اس تناظر میں یہ امر قابل ذکر ہے کہ نومبر 1970 میں جنرل اسمبلی کی قرارداد 2649 میں اسی ایوان نے ”نوآبادیاتی اور غیرملکی جبروتسلط میں رہنے والے عوام کے استصواب رائے کے حق اور اس کی بحالی کی جدوجہد میں ہر دستیاب ذریعہ بروئے کار لانے کے جائزہونے کو تسلیم کیا“ اور اس کی تائید کی ہے

20۔ دوم، ہمیں ہرممکنہ طورپر تمام انسانی امداد غزہ اور دیگر مقبوضہ علاقوں کی تباہ حال فلسطینی آبادی کے لئے فوری روانہ کرنی چاہئے۔

مزیدبرآں جنرل سیکریٹری ’یو۔این۔آر۔ڈبلیو۔اے‘ (UNRWA) ہنگامی امداد کی اپیل کریں تاکہ فلسطینیوں کے لئے خوراک اور دیگر اشیائے ضروریہ کی فراہمی ممکن ہوسکے۔ غزہ اور دیگر مقبوضہ فلسطینی علاقوں میں طبی ٹیموں، ادویات اور دیگر سامان بھجوانے کی ضرورت ہے۔ ہم غزہ تک راستے کی فراہمی کے مصر کے اقدام کا خیرمقدم کرتے ہیں۔ اسرائیل غزہ کے تمام راستے کھولے تاکہ عالمی امداد کی فوری اور بروقت فراہمی ممکن ہوسکے۔

21۔ سوم، جنرل اسمبلی کو فلسطینیوں کے تحفظ کے لئے ٹھوس اقدامات کرنے چاہئیں۔ ہمیں ایک عالمی محافظ فوج تعینات کرنی چاہئے جیساکہ جنرل اسمبلی کی قرارداد ’ای۔ایس۔10 / 20 اور 18 مئی 2018 کو اسلامی سربراہی کانفرنس نے مطالبہ کیا تھا۔

22۔ اگر سلامتی کونسل محافظ فوج بھجوانے سے اتفاق نہیں کرتی تو اس تجویز سے ”اتفاق کرنے والوں کا اتحاد‘ قائم کیاجاسکتا ہے جو کم ازکم حملوں اور کارروائیوں کی سویلین مبصرین کے ذریعے نگرانی کرے اور فلسطینیوں کو انسانی ہمدردی کی بنیاد پر امداد کی فراہمی کی سرپرستی کرے۔
23۔ چہارم، جنرل اسمبلی کو اسرائیلی زورزبردستی اورجبر کے ذریعے یروشلم کے ضلع الجراح سمیت فلسطینیوں سے ان کے گھروں کو خالی کرانے اور جاری یہودی آباد کاری کے غیرقانونی اقدامات، رمضان المبارک کے دوران مسلمانوں کے قبلہ اول الحرم الشریف اور مسجد اقصی میں فلسطینی نمازیوں پر حملوں، اسرائیل کی غزہ پر بمباری، بلاامتیاز اورحشیانہ حملوں کی مذمت کرنی چاہئے۔

26۔ پنجم، ہمیں فلسطینی علاقوں پر اسرائیلی قبضہ سے واگزار کروانے ، غیرقانونی آبادکاری کو مسمارکرنے اور مقبوضہ علاقوں میں اسرائیلی حکومت کی نافذ کردہ نسلی امتیاز وتعصب کو ختم کرنے کے لئے ٹھوس اقدامات کی بحالی کرنا ہوگی۔ جنرل اسمبلی نومبر1967 کی قرارداد 242 پر غیرمشروط عمل درآمد یقینی بنایا جائے جس میں ”جنگ کے ذریعے علاقے کو اپنے قبضے میں لینا ناقابل قبول“ قرار دیتے ہوئے اسرائیل سے مطالبہ کیا گیاکہ 1967 کی جنگ میں قبضہ کردہ علاقوں سے اپنی مسلح افواج کا انخلاءکرے۔ لہذا یہ امر نہایت ناگزیرہے کہ القدس الشریف دارالحکومت کی حامل ایک قابل عمل، خودمختار اور متحد وجود رکھنے والی فلسطینی ریاست کے قیام کے لئے سلامتی کونسل اور جنرل اسمبلی کی قراردادوں پر عمل درآمد یقینی بنایا جائے۔ پاکستان (فلسطینی) صدر محمود عباس کے اس مطالبے کی حمایت کرتا ہے کہ (مسئلہ کے) پرامن حل کے لئے عالمی کانفرنس بلائی جائے۔
٭٭

Mr. President,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

There are times in history when the decisions of nations are remembered by posterity.

​This is one such moment.

​What we do today, or cannot do, will be recorded in history.

​Driven by arrogance and emboldened by impunity, Israel has mounted a relentless onslaught on the occupied and beleaguered people of Palestine.

​As we speak, children, women and men in Palestine are being killed with impunity.

​In one week of Israeli attacks, over 250 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured. One-third are women and children.

​Death echoes in every home in Gaza. The Israeli air strikes are responsible for the taking of every single life of the Abu Hatab family. Two were women and eight children.

​Let that sink in for just a moment.

​Hundreds of such tragedies are being enacted every hour in Gaza and other parts of the Palestinian territories.

​So far, over 50,000 Palestinians have fled their homes in Gaza. There is limited access to water, food, hygiene, and health services. Hospitals and access to water and sanitation services depend on electricity. Fuel for the power plants has almost run out.

​Gaza is plunged in darkness: literally and metaphorically. The only light is that of Israeli explosions.

​This is Palestine, where – in full view of the world – the Israeli air strikes bring down entire buildings to kill and terrorize innocent Palestinians and even silence the media.

​It is time to say “Enough”!

​The voice of the Palestinian people cannot and will not be silenced. We, the representatives of the Islamic world, are here to speak with them and for them.

Mr. President,

​It is appalling that the Security Council has been unable to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. The Security Council has failed even to demand a cessation of hostilities. Those preventing the Council from doing so bear a heavy responsibility.

​In these circumstances, the General Assembly must assume its own responsibility. We must not fail the Palestinian people at this critical juncture.

Mr. President,

​Our first priority must be to halt the Israeli aggression. I hope that, even at this eleventh hour, the Security Council will call for a cessation of Israel’s attacks. If it fails to do so, the General Assembly must make this demand on behalf of the entire international community.

​Let us be clear. There is no moral or military equivalence between the beleaguered and occupied Palestinian people – who have no army, no navy, no air force – and the Israeli war – machine – one of the most powerful in the world. This is a war between a military occupier and an occupied people. It is a conflict between illegal occupation and a legitimate struggle for self-determination.

​In this context, it is worth recalling General Assembly resolution 2649 of November 1970 which affirms the “legitimacy of the struggle of peoples under colonial and alien domination recognized as being entitled to the right to self-determination to restore to themselves that right by any means at their disposal.”

​Second, we should mobilize all possible humanitarian help for the devastated Palestinian population in Gaza and other parts of the occupied territories. In addition to the UNRWA emergency appeal, the Secretary-General should launch a comprehensive humanitarian assistance plan to provide succor and sustenance to the Palestinians. We need to send medical teams, medicines and other supplies, food and other necessities to Gaza and other parts of the occupied Palestinian territories. We welcome the access being provided by Egypt to Gaza. Israel must open all the access points to Gaza to ensure the timely and urgent delivery of international assistance.

​Third, the General Assembly should call for concrete steps to protect the Palestinians. We should deploy an international protection force, as was called for in General Assembly Resolution ES-10/20 and as demanded by the Islamic Summit Conference on 18 May 2018.

​If the Security Council cannot agree to send the protection force, a “coalition of the willing” can be formed to provide at least civilian observers to monitor a cessation of the hostilities and supervise the provision of humanitarian help to the Palestinians.

​We also call on the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to offer protection to the Israel’s Arab citizens who are being lynched and murdered by fascist Israeli gangs at the present time.

​Fourth, the General Assembly should condemn: Israel’s forcible and illegal eviction of Palestinians, including in Al-Jarrah district of Jerusalem and continued construction of Jewish settlements; the onslaught against Palestinians worshipers in Haram Al Sharif and Al-Aqsa mosque, the first Qibla of Islam, during the month of Ramadan; and Israel’s brutal and indiscriminate aerial and land bombardment of Gaza.

​Israel’s crimes against humanity should not escape accountability. There should be no impunity for violation of international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention and other human rights Conventions. The Human Rights Council, the ICC, the ICJ and other avenues should be activated to ensure Israeli accountability for its war crimes.

Fifth, we must revive concrete efforts to end Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories and to dismantle the illegal settlements and the apartheid-like regime Israel has imposed in the occupied territories. The General Assembly should secure unconditional implementation of resolution 242 of November 1967 in which the Security Council declared the “inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war” and demanded that Israel withdraw its armed forces from territories occupied in the 1967 war. It is, therefore, imperative to initiate bold steps to secure the implementation of the Security Council and General Assembly resolutions calling for the establishment of a viable, independent and contiguous Palestinian State with Al-Quds Al Sharif as its capital. Pakistan endorses President Abbas call for an International Conference to secure a peaceful settlement.

Mr. President,

​The Palestine tragedy is at the heart of the turmoil and conflicts in the Middle East. It is also the principal root cause of the humiliation and anger in the Muslim and Arab world – anger which breeds extremism and often spawns acts of violence. A just solution for Palestine is imperative for the maintenance of regional and global peace and security.

​Clearly, the onus for restoring peace rests on Israel. It must end its occupation. It must implement the resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly.

​This General Assembly session must send a clear message to the Palestinian people and to Israel.

​It is only through determined and decisive action that this Assembly can restore the credibility of the United Nations and demonstrate its effective role in preserving world peace and global order based on equity and justice.

​I end with a verse from a great resistance poet of Pakistan:
Ae Arz e Falstin!
Main Bhi Hazir Hun!
O Land of Palestine! I too, am there for you.

I thank you.