ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday presented a seven-point plan to end Israel’s war on Gaza and ensure lasting peace in Palestine, urging Muslim countries to take concrete action at an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
The OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting is being held in Jeddah on Aug. 25-26, with Israel’s forces ramping up operations in Gaza after its security cabinet this month approved a plan by Benjamin Netanyahu for Gaza’s military occupation. The move drew sharp condemnation and protests from several countries around the world, who urged the international community to rein in Israel from occupying Gaza by force.
Addressing the session, Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, condemned Israel’s “systematic, premeditated and deliberate” violations of international law, including the killing of over 60,000 Palestinians, describing Israel’s targeting of hospitals, schools, United Nations (UN) facilities, aid convoys and refugee camps as “wanton acts of collective punishment in full world view.”
Dar said the Palestinian question is a “litmus test” for the credibility of the so-called ‘rules-based order’ and failure to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people would embolden impunity and undermine the legitimacy of the very order. He detailed seven urgent and essential steps on behalf of his country to safeguard the global order and to move beyond the perpetual cycle of violence and destruction in Palestine.
