By The South Asia Times

New York – Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, has called on the UN Security Council to take urgent action to halt the war in Gaza and enforce its own resolutions on Palestine, warning that the Council’s credibility is at stake.

Speaking at the Council’s briefing on the Middle East and the implementation of Resolution 2334, Ambassador Ahmad said the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the West Bank had reached an “unbearable” point. He cited figures of more than 66,000 Palestinians killed, the majority of them women and children, while homes, hospitals, and schools have been destroyed.

“Gaza is not only being bombed from the sky; its people are being starved on the ground,” Ahmad said, stressing that military operations in Gaza City risked the forced displacement of nearly one million people with “no safe refuge left.”

He also condemned Israel’s settlement expansion in the West Bank, warning that the E-1 plan posed a “direct assault on the two-state framework” by threatening the contiguity of Palestinian territory and severing East Jerusalem. “If the Council cannot enforce its own decisions, its credibility will be in jeopardy,” he cautioned.

Despite the grim situation, Ahmad pointed to “glimmers of hope” in international diplomacy, including the Two-State Solution Conference co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, recent recognitions of Palestine by UN member states, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s initiative involving several Arab and OIC countries. He said Pakistan would remain engaged in these consultative processes to help forge consensus toward peace.

Outlining Pakistan’s position, Ambassador Ahmad urged the Security Council to:

1. Secure an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

2. Lift the blockade and ensure unimpeded humanitarian access, alongside the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

3. End forced displacement and settlement activity while upholding the refugees’ right of return.

4. Take practical, time-bound steps to implement Resolution 2334 and safeguard the two-state solution.

5. Launch a credible political process leading to a sovereign and viable Palestinian state within pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem (Al-Quds Al-Sharif) as its capital.

“The people of Palestine cannot wait,” Ahmad concluded. “The cause of peace — and the credibility of this Council — depends on what we do in this moment. Pakistan will continue to stand with the people of Palestine.”