New York, March 22, 2025: Pakistan has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to demand an immediate halt to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza and push for an “indefinite and continuous” ceasefire to restore humanitarian access to the besieged enclave.
Speaking during a debate on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Ambassador Munir Akram warned that over 90% of Gaza’s population faces starvation due to Israel’s blockade, with newborn babies dying from lack of medical care and essential supplies.
“Hospitals, schools, and mosques are being destroyed under the pretext of targeting combatants, in blatant violation of international humanitarian law,” Akram stated in his final address to the UNSC before completing his term on March 30.
The Pakistani envoy condemned Israel’s unabated military aggression and criticized the international community’s inaction.
“Israel has vowed to continue the slaughter of Palestinian civilians with impunity, confident that this Council will remain paralyzed and fail to enforce its own ceasefire resolutions,” he said.
He also pointed to daily military raids, settler violence, and illegal land annexations in the West Bank, calling them part of a systematic effort to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people.
“The Security Council and the international community cannot stand by and watch this ethnic cleansing unfold,” he warned, urging the 10 elected members of the Council—including Algeria, Guyana, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, Panama, and Somalia—to take concrete steps to end the war.
Ambassador Akram strongly denounced Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid, stressing that full access must be granted to the UN and other humanitarian agencies to provide essential supplies to Gaza’s suffering population.
“Starvation of civilians cannot be used as a weapon of war,” he told the Council, condemning the deliberate withholding of food, medicine, and water from Palestinian civilians.
He further highlighted that Israel’s military operations in the West Bank, which began in Jenin and other areas on January 21, 2025, have since expanded to Nur Shams, Tulkarm, and Jenin camps, causing the largest displacement of Palestinians since 1967.
Citing data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Akram noted that between October 7, 2023, and March 4, 2025, at least 896 Palestinians—including children and women—were killed in the Occupied West Bank, with 90 deaths recorded since the beginning of this year alone.
Ambassador Akram also condemned the ongoing expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, calling them a clear violation of international law and UNSC Resolution 2334.
“Security Council resolutions are binding and cannot be ignored or selectively implemented,” he emphasized.
MiddkleSigrid Kaag, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, briefed the Council on the latest UN Secretary-General’s report on Resolution 2334.
She warned that the “relentless expansion” of Israeli settlements is dramatically altering the landscape and demographics of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, threatening the viability of a future Palestinian state.
According to Kaag, Israeli planning authorities have approved approximately 10,600 new housing units in the West Bank, including 4,920 in East Jerusalem. Meanwhile, 460 Palestinian-owned structures have been demolished, displacing 576 people—including 287 children and 149 women—due to the near-impossible process of obtaining Israeli-issued building permits.
Kaag further reported “alarming levels” of violence, with 123 Palestinians—including 6 women and 19 children—killed in Israeli airstrikes, military operations, and armed exchanges in recent months.
“Most Palestinians were killed during Israeli military operations in Area A, often in exchanges of fire with armed groups,” she said.
As Pakistan’s envoy concluded his remarks, he urged the UN Security Council to act decisively to end the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.
“A failure to stop this brutal war will embolden predatory states worldwide,” Akram warned, stressing that the world cannot afford continued inaction.
