Pakistan strongly condemned Israeli bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza, in which scores of women and children were killed, calling the strikes a blatant violation of international law and the Sharm El-Sheikh peace accord. Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi urged the international community to hold Israel accountable and take immediate action to protect human rights and ensure compliance with international laws. He reiterated Pakistan’s support for an independent and sovereign Palestinian state. The attacks mark a serious breach of the ceasefire, as Israeli forces launched new ground assaults across the so-called Yellow Line in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes killed 24 Palestinians, while a drone strike killed 11 more, leaving 20 others injured. Since October 10, when the US-brokered truce took effect, 318 Palestinians have died in Israeli attacks. On Saturday alone, Gaza’s civil defense reported 21 fatalities in multiple airstrikes, targeting residential areas including Nuseirat, Al-Nasr, and Deir el-Balah. Hospitals reported that most of the injured were women and children suffering severe head and chest wounds. The Israeli military claimed the strikes were in response to an “armed terrorist” crossing into Israeli-held territory, resulting in retaliatory attacks on alleged terror targets. Israel stated that it has honored the ceasefire, accusing Hamas of violating it, while Hamas accused Israel of escalating violations to undermine the truce. The situation underscores growing tensions in Gaza and the urgent need for mediators to enforce the ceasefire and prevent further civilian casualties. The Palestinian foreign ministry in the Israeli-occupied West Bank condemned the strikes and urged the international community to apply “immediate pressure” on Israel to stop what it called “massacres”. The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said that although the ceasefire had allowed for an increase in aid deliveries into Gaza, progress was still severely limited by issues including visa restrictions, delayed import approvals and too few operational border crossings. Jihad Abed Al-Aziz, a displaced resident of Khan Yunis, said the ceasefire was “pointless” because aid entering Gaza was nowhere near enough to meet people’s basic needs. He said that residents had lost their homes, jobs and sense of security, adding, “Life itself has no meaning any more.” The war began with Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,221 people. Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed at least 69,733 Palestinians, according to figures from the Gaza health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
Pakistan Condemns Israeli Strikes on Gaza, Calls Them Violation of Sharm El-Sheikh Accord
