Dar Urges OIC Action on West Bank Settlements, Gaza Plan
At a UN General Assembly meeting in New York, the deputy prime minister also backed Palestinian statehood within pre-1967 borders and Palestinian-led rebuilding of Gaza.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar pressed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to respond to Israeli settlement expansion and violence in the occupied West Bank and to push for the Gaza peace plan, at a meeting of the OIC Committee of Six on Palestine on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Dar called for urgent global attention to illegal settlements, settler attacks and annexation measures, including in East Jerusalem, and to ceasefire violations in Gaza, according to Dawn. He described those actions as flagrant violations of international law and said Palestine remains central to the OIC and the collective conscience of the Muslim Ummah. The committee has an important responsibility to mobilise political and diplomatic support for the Palestinian cause, he said.
Business Recorder reported that Dar reaffirmed Pakistan's unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian people and stressed the need for full and faithful implementation of the Gaza Peace Plan and UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which endorsed the plan after mediation by the United States, Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye. He expressed serious concern over conditions in Gaza and the West Bank and appreciated the mediators' efforts.
The deputy prime minister condemned Israeli violations at Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Haram Al-Sharif, and called for renewed and coordinated diplomatic action by the OIC, Business Recorder added. He said reconstruction and governance arrangements in Gaza should remain Palestinian-led, with a central role for the Palestinian Authority, and called for accountability for violations of international law and international humanitarian law.
Dar reiterated Pakistan's support for an independent, sovereign and contiguous State of Palestine on the basis of pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, and for Palestine's full membership of the United Nations.
Dawn reported the meeting as taking place on Monday, while Business Recorder said Tuesday.
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