Islamabad: Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, has called on the UN Security Council to demand that Israel refrain from its planned occupation of Gaza City.

According to Radio Pakistan, during an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on the Middle East, Ahmad emphasized the need for the Council to call for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire. He also urged the release of hostages and the exchange of Palestinian prisoners. The ambassador highlighted the importance of halting displacement and aggression, ensuring large-scale humanitarian access, and protecting the legal and historical status quo at Jerusalem's holy sites.

Ahmad stressed that the Security Council must be prepared to impose consequences on Israel if it defies the Council's demand and the international community's will. He suggested that enforcement measures, including deploying an international protection force, should be enacted to safeguard the besieged population.

He warned that Israel's actions aim to erase Palestinian presence and will extinguish prospects for peace, undermining regional and international efforts to resolve the conflict peacefully. Ahmad criticized those providing Israel with political cover, military support, or diplomatic protection, stating they must reconsider their policies or be judged harshly by history.

Ahmad described the situation in Gaza as a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe, condemning the so-called humanitarian system as a cruel illusion where famine is rampant and civilians are shot while trying to collect food. He reaffirmed Pakistan's full support for the Palestinian people's legitimate rights, including self-determination and the establishment of an independent State of Palestine based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.