‘Gaza Ceasefire must be enforced to protect civilians’, Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – Pakistan took floor at United Nations Security Council, delivering powerful message that echoed through the halls of international diplomacy. Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad painted stark picture of war torn Gaza where humanitarian crisis growing by the day.

Amabassador warned that the path to lasting peace in Middle East runs through Palestinian statehood, calling for an independent, sovereign Palestine along pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. Amid warnings of ongoing violence, settlement expansion, and stalled reconstruction.

Pakistan delivered forceful warning to UN Security Council, declaring that the long-delayed realization of Palestinian statehood through a credible, time-bound political process remains the defining test of the international community’s commitment to peace and stability. Addressing high-profile Security Council open debate on the Palestinian question, Islamabad made it clear that an independent, sovereign, and contiguous State of Palestine, based on pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital and is the only viable path to lasting regional peace.

Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, told the Council that the unresolved Palestinian issue lies at the very heart of Middle East instability. He said decades of Israeli occupation have been marked by dispossession, repression, and the systematic denial of Palestinians’ inalienable rights, particularly their right to self-determination.

Welcoming renewed diplomatic momentum, the ambassador cited High-Level Conference on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and President Donald Trump’s Peace Plan, endorsed by Security Council resolution 2803. He said the plan’s second phase must go beyond rhetoric to consolidate the ceasefire, ensure a permanent halt to hostilities, establish transitional arrangements, accelerate recovery and reconstruction in Gaza, deliver humanitarian assistance at scale, and lay the groundwork for a credible political process leading to Palestinian self-determination.

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Pakistan, alongside Arab and Islamic nations within the Group of Eight, strongly backs the Board of Peace established under resolution 2803, describing it as a vital transitional mechanism to cement a permanent ceasefire, drive Gaza’s reconstruction, and advance a just and lasting peace.

Despite diplomatic efforts, Pakistan warned that the situation on the ground remains dangerously volatile. Ambassador Ahmad said ceasefire violations continue unabated, civilian lives remain at constant risk, and mounting pressure on humanitarian organizations is obstructing aid delivery and protection efforts.

He strongly condemned Israeli actions against UN facilities, including the recent demolition of a UN compound in Sheikh Jarrah, saying such acts undermine stabilization efforts and threaten the fragile progress achieved so far. He stressed that UNRWA’s operations are indispensable and must be fully safeguarded.