Gaza tragedy ‘systematic erasure’ of a nation, says Pakistan, calls for end to Israeli occupation of Palestine
Islamabad says Israel’s ‘targeting of civilians and essential infrastructure’ are aimed at leaving ‘no space that is safe for Palestinians’
The bodies of Palestinians who lost their lives after the Israeli attack are brought to al-Shifa Hospital by their relatives for funeral prayers and burial in Gaza City, Gaza on April 28, 2025.
ISTANBUL
Pakistan said Tuesday that tragedy in Gaza is the “systematic erasure” of the Palestinian nation, calling for an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
“The tragedy unfolding in Gaza is without precedent, both in skill and inhumanity. This is not merely a humanitarian crisis, it is the systematic destruction of a people and the erasure of a nation’s right to exist,” Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN, told the UN Security Council.
He said that Israel’s “targeting of civilians and essential infrastructure, the use of starvation as a weapon,” are undeniably deliberate, adding that “these are acts of war crimes and ethnic cleansing” aimed at leaving “no space that is safe for Palestinians.”
On a defunct ceasefire agreement in Gaza, he said: “Israel’s unilateral breech of the ceasefire agreement brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United States was a deliberate choice of return to war over diplomacy.”
“In the West Bank, we witness a parallel crisis; forced displacement, relentless settlement expansion, and daily violence. Over 40,000 Palestinians have been uprooted, the largest such displacement since 1967,” he said, calling for accountability for these “crimes and blatant violations of international law, including international humanitarian law.”
Saying that peace in the region will remain an “illusion” as long as Israel’s illegal actions are tolerated, he called on for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, unhindered humanitarian access, an end to the Israeli occupation, and the reconstruction of Gaza.
During the same meeting, Joonkook Hwang, South Korea’s ambassador to the UN, said Seoul is deeply “concerned by the apocalyptic living conditions in Gaza,” urging Israel to “immediately allow and facilitate humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
The Israeli army renewed its assault on Gaza on March 18, shattering a Jan. 19 ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with the resistance group Hamas.
Over 52,300 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
