Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday addressed the extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s Council of Foreign Ministers (OIC-CFM) in Jeddah, stating that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks about a “Greater Israel” threaten regional peace.
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed over 62,000 people and injured 157,951, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The United Nations warned last week that with Israeli forces blocking aid, half a million people face “catastrophic hunger” in Gaza, with famine conditions likely to spread further across the Strip. Meanwhile, Israel has continued its bombardment after approving a plan to seize control of Gaza City, calling it the “last bastion of Hamas.”
Dar said that in recent days, Israel exhibited its “characteristic sordid insensitivity to international norms” with highly provocative and unwarranted statements encapsulating its “growing disdain and absolute contempt” for the international order.
“The brazen audacity of the so-called Israeli cabinet, in unveiling its ominous plan to extend Israel’s full military control over Gaza, as well as the Israeli prime minister’s recent allusion to the creation of a ‘Greater Israel’ provides an insight into Israel’s annexationist and rogue mindset.”
Pakistan strongly condemned Netanyahu’s remarks, stating that they call for action that would aggravate the already dire humanitarian situation and undermine efforts for peace in the Gaza Strip.
“We joined the statement issued by the Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee, along with other countries, in expressing strong condemnation and categorical rejection of the Israeli announcement, denouncing it as an unacceptable escalation and a brazen attempt to entrench illegal occupation by coercion,” he said.
Pakistan also fully endorsed and joined the statement issued by 31 Arab-Islamic countries and the Secretaries General of the OIC, the League of Arab States and the Gulf Cooperation Council, condemning Netanyahu’s comments about “Greater Israel”.
“His (Netanyahu’s) statement constitutes a direct threat to Arab national security, to the sovereignty of states, and to regional and international peace and security,” Dar stated.
“The root cause of this ongoing tragedy is Israel’s prolonged, illegal occupation of Palestinian territory. As long as this occupation endures, peace will remain elusive,” Dar said, quoting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. “We fully stand by our brotherly Arab states in safeguarding their sovereignty against threats to their independence and territorial integrity.”
Earlier, Dar arrived in Jeddah to attend the meeting on the Gaza crisis amid Israeli aggression and plans to seize full control of Gaza City, the Foreign Office (FO) said.
“Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar […] has arrived in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to participate in the 21st Extraordinary Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) being held today at the OIC Secretariat in Jeddah,” the FO said in the statement.
“The DPM/FM was received at the King Abdulaziz International Airport Jeddah by the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to OIC, Ambassador Fawad Sher, Ambassador of Pakistan to Saudi Arabia, Ahmad Farooq, and Consul General of Pakistan in Jeddah, Khalid Majid.”
It added that the session will bring together foreign ministers and senior officials from the OIC member states to deliberate on coordinated responses to the escalating developments in Palestine, arising from the ongoing Israeli military aggression, proposed plans for full military control over Gaza, and the continuing egregious violations of Palestinian rights.
Yesterday, the FO said FM Dar will reject Israel’s “outrageous” plan to occupy Gaza at the extraordinary session and emphasise the urgent need for unhindered humanitarian assistance.
“He will reaffirm Pakistan’s unwavering support for Palestine and reiterate its principled stance and call for the restoration of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, most notably, the establishment of an independent, contiguous, and sovereign Palestinian state,” it said.
The OIC is the second largest inter-governmental organisation after the United Nations, with 57 member states. It was established in September 1969 in response to the Israeli terrorist attacks on Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem.
As a founding member, Pakistan has been at the forefront of the OIC’s efforts to champion Muslim causes — from freedom of the Palestinian and Kashmiri peoples struggling under foreign occupation, to upholding the rights of Muslims in Myanmar and Bosnia, to ending conflicts in Muslim lands such as Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and Libya.
‘Complete control’ of Gaza
Last week, Tel Aviv approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City, describing it as the last bastion of Hamas.
Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed to press on with the offensive on the city where famine has been declared, which has raised alarm abroad and objections at home. Katz has said that Gaza City would be razed unless Hamas agrees to Israel’s terms.
Hamas said Israel’s plan to take over Gaza City showed it wasn’t serious about a ceasefire, saying that a ceasefire agreement was the only way to return the Israeli prisoners, holding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for their lives.
The proposal on the table calls for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 10 living Israeli prisoners held in Gaza and of 18 bodies. In turn, Israel would release about 200 long-serving Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Once a temporary ceasefire begins, the proposal is for Hamas and Israel to begin negotiations on a permanent ceasefire that would include the return of the remaining Israeli prisoners.
Netanyahu said last Thursday that Israel would immediately resume negotiations for the release of all 50 Israeli prisoners held by Hamas — of whom Israel believes around 20 are still living, and an end to the nearly two-year-old war but on terms acceptable to Israel.
‘Manmade’ famine
According to a report released last week by the Famine Review Committee of the United Nations’ Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the famine in Gaza was “entirely man-made” and could be “halted and reversed”, but it required an “immediate, at-scale response” to do so.
“The time for debate and hesitation has passed; starvation is present and is rapidly spreading,” the committee said in a report.
“There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that an immediate, at-scale response is needed. Any further delay — even by days — will result in a totally unacceptable escalation of famine-related mortality.”
The report also warned that avoidable deaths would “increase exponentially” unless a ceasefire was implemented to allow in humanitarian aid and restore the delivery of food and basic supplies to Gaza’s population immediately.
Pakistan dispatches aid
Meanwhile, a fresh consignment of 100 tons of relief goods was dispatched to Palestine from the Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore via a special flight on the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, marking the 21st consignment dispatched for the people of Gaza, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.
The consignment includes ration bags, ready-to-eat meals, and canned fruits to meet the urgent food needs of the Palestinian people. With this dispatch, the total volume of aid sent by Pakistan to Gaza has reached 2,027 tons through 21 consignments, the report said.
More to follow.