ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has called for setting up a judicial mechanism to seek “restitution and damages” from Israel for its crimes in Gaza, the foreign office said on Friday, as Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar returned from Jeddah where he attended a special OIC meeting on Palestine.
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza after Hamas carried out a shock, cross-border rampage into Israeli communities on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 Israelis and foreigners and seizing some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, at least 39,699 Palestinians have been killed and 91,722 injured in Israel’s devastating air and ground war, the Gaza health ministry said in an update on Thursday.
In a press conference on Friday, Pakistani Foreign Office Spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch briefed journalists about Dar’s participation in the Extraordinary Meeting of the OIC Executive Committee in Jeddah, convened at the request of the State of Palestine and Iran to discuss the ongoing Israeli aggression against Palestine and other regional states.
“Deputy Prime Minister underlined the need for the establishment of an international judicial mechanism, which would seek ‘restitution, damages and satisfaction’ from Israel for its crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide in Gaza and hold accountable those responsible for their crimes,” Baloch said.
The spokesperson said Dar had used the OIC platform to call for enhanced humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza, the opening of all access points of supply to Gaza and for allowing all UN and international agencies, including UNRWA, to operate fully in Gaza.
As Gaza’s war churns on, Israel has been battening down for another attack expected in the coming days following vows from Iran and Hezbollah to retaliate for the assassinations last week of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.
A relatively contained conflict between Israel and Hezbollah along its northern border, a spillover from the Gaza fighting, now threatens to spiral into an all-out regional war.
Baloch said Pakistan believed Haniyeh’s assassination in Iran — which he was visiting for the oath-taking of the new Iranian president when he was killed — was a “crime of aggression with flagrant violation of international law and a serious infringement of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Pakistan warned that Israel’s actions threatened to undermine security and stability in the region, calling for “effective and urgent intervention” by the UN Security Council.
“So, I must underline, under international law, it is the responsibility of the United Nations Security Council to uphold international peace and to ensure that the region, especially the Middle East region, does not descend into violence and chaos,” Baloch said.
“We believe Israeli actions against the Palestinians and against its neighbors is creating instability in the region. We also believe that a war in the Middle East must be avoided and Pakistan will therefore support all efforts to ensure peace in the Middle East.”
