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Pakistan asks world community to stop Israel’s unilateral strikes in Palestine
Envoy calls for dismantling of separation wall
INP
UNITED NATIONS – Pakistan has urged the international community to act to stop Israel's unilateral strikes in the Palestinian occupied territories, saying the violence in the region had erupted because of the failure of the peace process.
“We call on the international community to intercede to end this cycle of violence and bring about a cessation of unilateral Israeli strikes that indiscriminately kill Palestinians – men, women and children,” Ambassador Masood Khan, Pakistan's permanent representative to the UN, told the Palestinian Rights Committee.
Voicing deep concern over the precarious situation in Palestine, Ambassador Masood condemned the brazen violence by the occupying authorities and the collective punishment being meted out to the Palestinian people.
He reiterated Pakistan's support for a two-state solution, which paves the way for a viable, geographically contiguous Palestinian state, created on the basis of pre-1967 borders, with Al Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
In this context, the Pakistani envoy called for the resumption of peace negotiations that should be pursued in earnest. He also called for a speedy and impartial investigation into the brutal killing of the Palestinian youth, the 16 year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir by Israeli zealots, saying the perpetrators should immediately be brought to justice.
Finally, Masood called for the dismantling of the separation wall, as stated in ICJ's advisory opinion. “The Israeli expansionist wall being constructed deep inside the occupied Palestinian territory is illegal, plain and simple,” he said. "Its construction must be immediately halted and the constructed part dismantled,” he said.
"Israel must implement UN General Assembly resolution that demands that Israel, the occupying power, comply with its legal obligations as mentioned in the advisory opinion on the wall." The committee held a special meeting to mark the 10th anniversary of the International Court of Justice advisory ruling declaring illegal Israel's construction of a separation wall in the West Bank.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk