Asim Munir expresses concerns over unabated violence on Palestinians

Six UN refugee agency workers killed in Gaza in 24 hours

RAWALPINDI – Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir met Palestinian Ambassador to Pakistan Ahmad Jawad Rabei at General Headquarters today (Tuesday), said ISPR.

According to the military’s media wing, COAS expressed condolences on the loss of Palestinian lives in the ongoing war in Gaza. The army chief expressed grave concern over unabated violence and willful, indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians by the Israeli forces in the war.

“Incessant attacks on civilian population, schools, universities, aid workers, hospitals and the forced exodus of Palestinians from Gaza are manifest crimes against humanity,” said the army chief.

COAS reiterated the call for immediate cessation of hostilities, opening of humanitarian corridor to Gaza, protection of civilians and adherence to the International Humanitarian Law, said ISPR.

The army chief also reiterated Pakistan’s principled support for an independent, viable and contiguous state of Palestine established on the basis of pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

“Pakistan believes that the fresh spate of violence in Gaza is the result of unabated repression, continued human rights violations and state-sponsored sacrilege of Al Aqsa mosque. Conflating this war with terrorism would be naïve; taking a narrow and self-serving view of the issue as an isolated attack, obscures brutal oppression spanning decades that has led to this outcome,” COAS remarked.

The army chief said, “At this critical juncture, it is imperative that the international community mobilizes to put an early end to unfolding human tragedy due to disproportionate and unlawful use of force by Israeli Defence Forces and desist from encouraging them to continue perpetrating atrocities in manifest violation of all norms of civility and humane conduct.”

Earlier,

Six workers with the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency were killed in just 24 hours in Gaza, the global body said Tuesday, bringing to 35 the total of its staff killed since October 7.

Humanitarian and aid workers have not been spared in more than two weeks of relentless Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip after Hamas gunmen carried out the worst attack in Israel’s 75-year history.

“Since the start of hostilities, at least 16 health workers have been killed while on duty, along with 35 UNRWA staff,” the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said in an update sent Tuesday on the situation up to Monday evening.

“Six of (them) were killed in the past 24 hours.”

The UNRWA supports the 5.6 million Palestinian refugees across Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

More than 5,000 people have died during Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, according to numbers given by the Hamas-run health ministry.

Israel has been striking back following the October 7 attacks, which Israeli officials say killed more than 1,400 people who were shot, stabbed or burned to death by militants.

Israel, which says Hamas forces also seized 222 hostages, has been preparing a full-blown ground invasion of the overcrowded Palestinian enclave.

The UNRWA paid tribute on X, formerly Twitter, “to our 35 colleagues who have been killed in Gaza since October 7”.

“We grieve and we remember. These are not just numbers. These are our friends and colleagues,” it said, adding that many of those killed were teachers in UNRWA-run schools.

UN chief Antonio Guterres also lamented on X the loss of “35 of our UNRWA colleagues — humanitarian, teachers — (who) have been killed in Gaza since October 7”.

“We mourn their loss & stand with colleagues doing all they can to assist those in need.”

Nearly 590,000 people — almost half of the more than 1.4 million people who have been displaced within the Gaza Strip since the bombardment began — have taken shelter in UNRWA facilities, OCHA said.

Twelve displaced people have been killed and nearly 180 wounded at the UN agency’s schools, while dozens of UNRWA installations have been damaged, it said.

In its update, OCHA warned that aid agencies were struggling to respond to the massive humanitarian needs of Gaza’s 2.4 million people, who have been largely deprived of water, food, electricity and other basic supplies after an Israeli blockade.

“Humanitarian partners cannot safely access people in need and warehouses where aid supplies are stored,” it said.

Aid finally began trickling in at the weekend, with more than 50 trucks carrying food, water and medicine but not fuel making it into Gaza so far.

But the UN says 100 aid trucks a day are needed.

China’s foreign minister has told his Israeli counterpart that all countries have a right to self-defence, but they must protect civilians and abide by international law, Beijing said Tuesday.

Wang Yi made the comments in a call on Monday with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, the first between them since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Hamas militants stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, and killed at least 1,400 people, mostly who were shot or burnt to death on the first day of the raid, according to Israeli officials.

Israel says around 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in clashes before its army regained control of the area under attack.

More than 5,000 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed across the Gaza Strip in relentless Israeli bombardments in retaliation for the attacks, according to the latest toll from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

In his talks with Cohen, Wang said China was deeply concerned about the “ongoing escalation of the conflict”.

“All countries have the right to self-defence, but they should abide by international humanitarian law and protect the safety of civilians,” Wang said.

“The most pressing task now is to prevent the situation from escalating further and from leading to a more serious humanitarian disaster.”

Wang had already said on October 14 that Israel’s actions had gone “beyond the scope of self defence” and called then for Israel to stop its “collective punishment” of people in Gaza.

Washington has said it hopes China’s relationship with Hamas backer Iran could help calm the conflict, particularly after Beijing brokered a detente between Tehran and its long-time foe Saudi Arabia this year.

On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinians and backed a two-state solution.

In his talks with Cohen, Wang reiterated Beijing’s longstanding position, saying that China “sincerely hopes that the Palestine issue will be resolved in a comprehensive and just manner… and that the legitimate security concerns of all parties will be resolved in a genuine and thorough manner”.

Also on Monday, Wang spoke with his Palestinian Authority (PA) counterpart, Riyad al-Maliki, telling him Beijing “deeply expresses its sympathy with the Palestinian side”.

The PA, which Maliki represents, was meant to be a first step towards an independent Palestinian state.

But it has little authority over the West Bank and none over Gaza, where it was violently ousted by Hamas in 2007.

“What the people of Gaza need most at present is security and food and medicine, not war and weapons and ammunition,” Wang told Maliki.

“What the Gaza Strip needs most is efforts to stop the war and promote peace, not geopolitical calculations,” he said.

“The Chinese side has always campaigned for a ceasefire and an end to violence, and has called for a return to peace.”

China’s Middle East envoy Zhai Jun is in the region this week, a visit that Beijing has said is aimed at “cooling down” the war.

Speaking at an Egypt-hosted “summit for peace” on Saturday, Zhai called for an “immediate ceasefire and an end to the fighting as quickly as possible”.

So far, he has also visited Qatar — which hosts a Hamas political office — and the United Arab Emirates.