As heavy Israeli bombardments continued to hit the Palestinian enclave on Thursday, Pakistan strongly condemned the “indiscriminate and disproportionate” use of force by Israeli authorities against the civilian population in Gaza and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahrah Baloch said in her weekly press briefing that Pakistan was deeply concerned by the fast deteriorating and dire humanitarian situation in Gaza due to the “inhumane blockade and collective punishment by Israeli forces”.
The statement comes after Israel imposed a “total siege” to stop food and fuel from reaching the enclave of 2.3 million people, many poor and dependent on aid in response to a surprise Hamas offensive on Saturday that left 1,200 Israelis dead, according to officials.
In retaliatory air and artillery strikes, Israeli forces have flattened entire neighbourhoods, hospitals and schools in Gaza, killing 1,200 Palestinians since Saturday, and displacing more than 338,000. Yesterday, electricity went out after the only power station stopped working.
The FO spokesperson said that the decision to cut off electricity, fuel and water supplies was “unjust and should be reversed as it would severely impact the lives of millions of people in the enclave”.
“The current cycle of aggression and violence is a sad reminder and a direct consequence of over seven decades of illegal foreign occupation, aggression and disrespect for international law, including UNSC resolutions that recognise the inalienable right to self-determination of the Palestinian people,” she added.
The FO spokesperson said Pakistan had been constantly warning against serious consequences of Israel’s “escalatory and provocative actions in recent months”. She said the “unprecedented gravity of the situation demands urgent intervention by the international community”.
Pakistan urged the United Nations to play a proactive role in facilitating a ceasefire to alleviate the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza.
“The international community must work in concert for a just comprehensive and lasting two-state solution with a viable, sovereign and contiguous state of Palestine on the basis of pre-1967 borders, with Al Quds Sharif (Jerusalem) as its capital. Peace in the Middle East will remain elusive in the absence of such a solution,” she said.
Rockets fired at Tel Aviv after Israeli strikes
Hamas fighters on Thursday fired a barrage of rockets at Tel Aviv in response to Israeli air strikes that targeted civilians in two Gaza refugee camps, the Palestinian group said.
“Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades fired rockets at Tel Aviv in response to (Israeli strikes) targeting civilians in Al-Shati and Jabalia camps,” Hamas said, referring to its armed wing, in a text message sent to journalists.
AFP correspondents witnessed dozens of air strikes over 30 minutes on Thursday morning in the direction of Al-Shati camp and in the blockaded strip’s north.
“The occupation (Israeli forces) committed massacres this morning in Al-Shati camp and Jabalia camp, leaving dozens of martyrs and injured,” Iyad al-Buzum, spokesman for the Hamas interior ministry, told AFP.
AFP journalists saw at least seven dead bodies and six buildings destroyed in Al-Shati camp.
Over 1,200 killed, 338,000 displaced in Gaza
The United Nations said more than 338,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip.
“Mass displacement across the Gaza Strip continues,” the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in a statement.
By late Wednesday, the number of displaced people in Gaza had risen by an additional 75,000 people from the figure given 24 hours earlier, reaching 338,934, it said.
In Gaza, officials reported more than 1,200 people have been killed in Israel’s sustained campaign of air and artillery strikes.
“The number of martyrs has risen to around 1,200, and the number of wounded to around 5,600,” a spokesperson for the health ministry in Gaza said.
OCHA said nearly 220,000 people, or two-thirds of the displaced people, have sought shelter in schools run by the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
Another nearly 15,000 people fled to schools run by the Palestinian Authority, while more than 100,000 were being sheltered by relatives, neighbours and a church and other facilities in Gaza City.
OCHA said that around 3,000 people had already been displaced within the enclave prior to Saturday’s attack.
The bombing campaign has destroyed or rendered uninhabitable at least 2,540 housing units in Gaza, OCHA said, citing numbers from the Gaza Ministry of Public Works and Housing.
Another 22,850 housing units sustained moderate to minor damage, it said.
The UN agency also voiced alarm at the significant destruction of civilian infrastructure damaged in the shelling.
Among other things, it said sewage facilities serving more than a million people had been hit by air strikes, leaving solid waste accumulating in the streets, posing a health threat.
Saudi prince, Iran president hold call on Israel-Hamas conflict
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler and Iran’s president spoke by phone about the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Saudi state media said early on Thursday, their first call since a surprise rapprochement in March.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a call on Wednesday from the Iranian leader, Ebrahim Raisi, during which they discussed “the current military situation in Gaza and its environs”, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.
Prince Mohammed told Raisi that Riyadh is “communicating with all international and regional parties to stop the ongoing escalation”, SPA said.
He also stressed “the kingdom’s firm position towards supporting the Palestinian cause”, it said.
Iranian state news agency IRNA also reported on the call, saying the two men discussed the “need to end war crimes against Palestine”.
Prince Mohammed also spoke by phone on Wednesday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during which the 38-year-old Saudi leader said he was “exerting unremitting efforts through regional and international communication to achieve coordination that pushes for a halt of the current escalation”.
Brazil calls UN Security Council meeting
Brazil, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council (UNSC), called a Friday meeting of the body to discuss the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, its foreign affairs ministry said.
Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Mauro Vieira has interrupted an Asia trip to travel “to New York to participate in a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, called by Brazil… to address the situation in the Gaza Strip,” the ministry said in a statement.
Brazil previously called an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Sunday, the day after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. At Sunday’s Security Council meeting, members were divided over policy concerning Israel and the Palestinians.
Earlier on Wednesday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for urgent international action to protect both Palestinian and Israeli civilians, especially children.
“Children must never be held hostage, anywhere in the world,” Lula wrote on social media platform X.
“Hamas needs to free the Israeli children who were kidnapped from their families. Israel needs to stop its bombing so Palestinian children and their mothers can leave the Gaza Strip via the Egyptian border,” he said.
“There needs to be a minimum of humanity in the insanity of war,” he said.
