United Nations, September 24, 2025: Pakistan has urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to take decisive action to uphold human dignity and deliver justice for the Palestinian people, as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens to what it described as “historic proportions.”
“The time for words has passed; the time for action is now,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, addressing the 15-member Council during its debate on the Middle East, with particular focus on Gaza.
Dar’s remarks followed the High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine, held on September 22, which mobilized fresh international backing for Palestinian statehood and sovereignty.
The Deputy Prime Minister welcomed recent recognitions of the State of Palestine by several countries, recalling that Pakistan was among the earliest nations to extend recognition following Palestine’s 1988 declaration of independence. “This positive momentum must be sustained with determination and an unwavering commitment to achieving a just and lasting solution,” he said.
Calling Gaza “a graveyard for humanity and the global conscience,” Dar reaffirmed Pakistan’s steadfast support for the Palestinian struggle for justice, dignity, and self-determination. He reiterated Pakistan’s position in favor of establishing a sovereign, independent, and contiguous Palestinian State based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Dar called for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire; unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza and the lifting of the blockade, an end to any forced displacement of Palestinians and upholding of the right of return for refugees and establishing an international protection mechanism for Palestinians.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, opening the debate, warned that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has entered one of its darkest chapters, nearly two years after the devastating Israeli offensive in Gaza.
He described the ongoing onslaught in Gaza City as a “catastrophic humanitarian crisis,” where civilians and hostages remain trapped under relentless bombardment, deprived of food, water, electricity, and medicine. “Famine is a reality,” Guterres stressed. “To call this situation untenable and morally and legally indefensible does not begin to capture the scale of human suffering.”
Despite repeated UN appeals for a ceasefire, the release of hostages, and full humanitarian access, the Secretary-General noted that Security Council resolutions continue to be ignored and international humanitarian law violated.
He further warned that violence is spreading beyond Gaza into the Occupied West Bank and across the region, citing the September 9 Israeli attack in Qatar, which violated the country’s sovereignty and undermined mediation efforts by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.
Guterres said the viability of a two-State solution is steadily eroding, pointing to continued settlement expansion, de facto annexation, forced displacement, and violence by extremist settlers. Israel’s recent approval of settlement construction in the E1 area was “especially alarming,” he said, adding: “Israeli settlements are not just a political issue — they are a flagrant violation of international law.”
The UNSC session highlighted growing international urgency to halt the bloodshed and revive momentum for a two-State solution, even as Gaza’s humanitarian crisis worsens by the day.
