https://arab.news/jfdn4
- Egypt has played a key role in negotiating a cease-fire which ended recent Israeli aerial bombardment of Gaza
- Pakistan has extensively lobbied against Israeli attacks on Palestine in the last few weeks
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi discussed the situation in Gaza during a phone call on Wednesday.
Egypt played a key role in negotiating a cease-fire which on May 21 ended 11 days of Israeli aerial bombardment that killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians, destroyed thousands of homes and disabled critical infrastructure in the area.
“The Prime Minister appreciated the important role played by Egypt and its leadership for cessation of hostilities in Palestine,” Khan said, as quoted in a statement issued by his office.
The latest wave of violence, which ended in the Israeli airstrikes, escalated in the final days of the fasting month of Ramadan, starting from Israeli police firing at Palestinians gathered at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
“Condemning strongly the Israeli aggression against innocent Palestinians, especially women and children, and the sacrilege of Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of the early and just resolution of the Palestine issue,” Khan’s office said. “He termed the current situation in Gaza as Palestinians living in open prison.”
During the Gaza crisis, Pakistani leaders demanded that the international community stop the Israeli violence and urgently implement a series of United Nations resolutions that call for the establishment of a Palestinian state, the right of return of Palestinian refugees, and an end to Israeli settlement building on Palestinian land. They described support for the Palestinian cause as a “defining principle of Pakistan’s foreign policy.”
In his talk with El-Sisi, Khan outlined Pakistan’s efforts in “amplifying the voice of the Palestinian people” and called for a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied Palestinian territory.
The term “occupied Palestinian territory” is officially used by the United Nations to denote the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip, which have been occupied by Israel since 1967.