ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office said on Thursday that Pakistan has “no plans to send troops to Palestine” to protect the people of besieged Gaza from ongoing Israeli aggression and called for an immediate ceasefire, an end to the siege and facilitation of humanitarian corridors for unrestricted relief supplies.
Speaking at her weekly media briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that “Pakistan remains deeply concerned about the situation of our Palestinian brothers and sisters in Gaza.”
“We strongly condemn the Israeli aggression and blockade, particularly the recent attack on a Gaza hospital. Israel’s actions violate international humanitarian and human rights law.
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Deliberate attack against civilian targets constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. We call for an immediate ceasefire; an end to the siege of Gaza; and the facilitation of humanitarian corridors for unrestricted relief supplies,“ she said.
In response to a question about whether Pakistan will send its troops to Palestine under certain mandate to protect Palestinian civilians from Israeli aggression, she said: “We have no such plans.”
She further said Pakistan welcomes the joint communiqué released by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) after its extraordinary open-ended meeting of the Executive Committee on Palestine held in Jeddah on Wednesday.
She said the meeting reflects the consensus of the OIC countries and it has called for the immediate cessation of the hostilities, lifting siege and opening humanitarian corridors for the people of Gaza.
In response to a question, the spokesperson also voiced Pakistan’s disappointment at the outcome of the UN Security Council’s debate on the situation where on Wednesday the United States, being a permanent member of the Council, vetoed a resolution calling for a humanitarian pause in the Israel-Hamas war.
“We are naturally disappointed with the results of the debate at the United Nations Security Council. We believe that the UN Security Council should play its designated role in bringing an immediate end to the ongoing situation and bombardment in Gaza and continuing blockade that is creating a humanitarian catastrophe for the Palestinian people,” she added.
To another query, she said that Pakistan also welcomes all initiatives that contribute to the ultimate objective of immediate ceasefire, lifting of blockade and provision of humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza.
“We hope that the initiative of Turkiye and other countries will be discussed and consensus would reach which would contribute to the ultimate outcome which we all desire,” she added.
When her comment was sought on the US blanket support to Israeli aggression against Gaza and President Biden’s visit to Tel Aviv on Wednesday in a show of US support, she said that Pakistan’s position is clear that it does not believe in escalation in Gaza and wants the international community to work together to ensure that peace prevails and ceasefire is obtained and the humanitarian assistance is allowed to go into Gaza.
“It is important that the backers of Israel impress upon Israel to forthwith end these hostilities as they continue to operate in an environment of impunity,” she added.
She also announced that Pakistan is sending humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian brothers and sisters. A chartered aircraft carrying 100 tons of humanitarian supplies including tents, blankets, and essential medicines departed from Islamabad to Egypt on Thursday evening where the assistance will be transferred to the people of Gaza.
In response to a question about the outcome of investigation into interception of packet containing radiological substance from a flight from Lahore at London’s Heathrow Airport in December last year, she said that according to investigations, the amount of the contaminated material was limited and assessed as posing no threat to public safety, and no ill-intent by the parties was found.
She said Pakistan took the matter quite seriously and the relevant agencies made a thorough investigation which revealed that the confiscated metal pieces were scrap samples shipped by a private scrap dealer.
“The investigations conducted by British authorities aligned with Pakistan’s position. The British High Commission in a note verbale in June has acknowledged Pakistan’s cooperation in this matter,” she added.
Although this matter has been closed, she added that Pakistan remains very concerned about the disinformation campaign in some pockets of the British media which ensued after this incident.
She said that some British media outlets followed by the Indian media completely twisted the facts to malign Pakistan. “Pakistan has a robust nuclear security regime and effective measures are in place to counter any illegal trafficking or theft of sensitive materials. Nuclear and radiological materials in Pakistan remain under strict material control and accounting from start to end,” she added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023