Pakistan on Monday called upon Israel to stop building settlements in the occupied territories in order to pave way for resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian talks aimed at settling the decades-old Middle East conflict.
Speaking in the Security Council debate on the Palestinian question, Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon underscored the need for international community, the Council and the Middle East diplomatic Quartet to act in tandem to prevent the collapse of the talks.
"We need to extend our hands and grasp this fleeting moment of history," he said, adding, " International Community must call upon Israel to announce unconditional cessation of all settlement activity." He remarked, "Settlement activity violates international law, vitiates the atmosphere of talks and mutes the voice of peace and compassion."
The most worrying of such activity, the envoy noted, took place in and around East Jerusalem and routine settler violence against Palestinian neighbours was a regrettable corollary. The negotiation process must run in parallel with improvement in the lives of the Palestinian people.
He said the policies of checkpoints, roadblocks, military siege and separation walls could not indicate a peace process and must end. Israeli measures to ease restrictions on movement in the West Bank and to improve access to Gaza must be sustained by a deeper political commitment to improve livelihoods in Palestine, through respect for human rights, freedom of movement and unrestricted flow of commerce, he stressed.
Ambassador Haroon said the international community must also upgrade assistance to the Palestinian Authority, especially regarding year 2009 plan to build state institutions within two years. The projected eight per cent growth rate in the West Bank and Gaza could be a solid edifice for Palestinian Statehood and its people, and could rebuff violence, he pointed.
"We share the collective objective of international community for an independent, sovereign and viable State of Palestine - with Al -Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, living side-by-side and in peace with all its neighbours." The envoy also called for parallel progress on the Israel-Lebanon and the Israel-Syria tracks in accordance with relevant United Nations resolutions.
Concluding, he said he looked forward to substantive and objective investigations by the Panel of Inquiry on the freedom flotilla incident. Justice must prevail and those affected must be compensated. The moratorium in the occupied West Bank expired late last month despite calls on Israel from the diplomatic Quartet comprising the UN, European Union, Russia and United States to renew it. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has indicated he will not continue with negotiations unless Israel freezes settlement activity.