ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday slammed this week’s Israeli airstrike against Hamas leaders in Qatar’s capital of Doha, calling for an Arab-Islamic task force to counter Israeli expansionist designs in the Middle East.
The statement by Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, came at a preparatory ministerial meeting of the emergency Arab-Islamic Summit in Doha in the aftermath of Israeli airstrike that killed at least six people on Tuesday.
The Doha attack appears to have ended attempts to secure an Israel-Hamas ceasefire and the release of hostages ahead of the upcoming United Nations (UN) General Assembly session, at which the Gaza war is expected to be a primary focus.
Foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic nations met in Doha to forge a united front about the Israeli attack ahead of a summit in Qatar on Monday that will bring together leaders from their nations for top-level talks.
“Israel must be held accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity. It should not be allowed to get away with attacking Islamic countries and killing people with impunity,” Dar said at Sunday’s ministerial meeting, calling for the “creation of an Arab-Islamic task force to monitor the Israeli designs in the region and adopt effective deterrent and offensive measures in a synchronized manner to ward off Israeli expansionist designs.”
