LONDON: Pakistan’s prime minister on Friday warned the world that it risks failing the children of Gaza, and called for a ceasefire in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.
In his address to the UN General Assembly, Shehbaz Sharif said Israel is inflicting “unspeakable terror” on Palestinian civilians, accusing it of a “genocidal” campaign.
“The smallest coffins are the heaviest to carry,” he said. “Therefore, we cannot, and we must not fail these children of Gaza, or any child anywhere in the world. We must find a path to a ceasefire now.”
He called for the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state free from the “shackles” of Israel, and condemned the ongoing violence of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.
“Pakistan firmly supports the demand of the Palestinian people for the establishment of a sovereign Palestine state with pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds Al-Sharif (Jerusalem) as its capital. Palestine can no longer remain under Israeli shackles. It must be liberated,” he said.
“The plight of the Palestinian people is one of the most heart-wrenching tragedies of our times,” he added. “This prolonged injustice is a stain on the global conscious and our collective moral failure for nearly 80 years.
“The Palestinians have courageously endured Israel’s brutal occupation of their homeland. In the West Bank, each passing day brings new brutality — illegal settlers who terrorize and kill with impunity — and nobody can challenge them and question them.”
The suffering of civilians, particularly women and children, was at the forefront of Sharif’s address.
“In Gaza, Israel’s genocidal onslaught has unleashed unspeakable terror upon women and children in a manner we haven’t witnessed in (the) annals of history, in blind pursuit of its nefarious goals,” he said.
“The Israeli leadership has unleashed a shameful campaign against the innocent Palestinians, which history will always remember as one of its darkest chapters.”
Sharif also condemned Israel’s strikes against Hamas negotiators in Qatar’s capital. “Israel’s recent attack on Doha, and its continued violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of numerous countries, is reflective of its rogue behavior,” he said. “Pakistan stands unwaveringly with our brothers and sisters in Qatar.”
Sharif commended countries that recently recognized Palestine. Pakistan was “among the first to recognize Palestine’s statehood in 1988, and now we welcome the recognition of the state of Palestine by a number of countries recently around the globe, and urge others to also follow suit, because time and tide wait for none,” he said.
