Pakistan dispatches 400 tonnes of humanitarian assistance to Gaza

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday dispatched 400 tonnes of humanitarian assistance to Gaza through sea.

In a post on social media platform, X, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar apprised it was eighth tranche from the country since the fresh conflict in Palestine broke out on October 7, 2023. He said the aid comprised “winterised tents, tarpaulins, blankets, medicines and food supplies”.

The minister said the shipment would be received by the Pakistani Ambassador to Egypt at Port Said and handed over to the Egyptian Red Crescent for onward delivery to the people of Gaza.

“Pakistan remains committed to addressing the urgent humanitarian needs of our brothers and sisters in Gaza,” he said.

Pakistan has continuously been raising voice against Israeli atrocities and dispatching aid time and again to the besieged enclave.

Pakistan had on April 19 regretted the United States (US) decision to veto the draft resolution seeking Palestine’s full membership of the United Nations (UN), as well as expressed its disappointment on the UN Security Council’s inability to reach a consensus on the matter.

“Pakistan is deeply disappointed by the result of last night’s debate at the UNSC and its inability to reach a consensus and recommend Palestine’s membership to UN General Assembly,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch had said in her weekly press briefing.

“We regret the US decision to veto the draft resolution granting full membership of the UN to Palestine,” she had added.

The Security Council had blocked Palestine’s bid to become a full member of the UN due to a US veto on a widely-supported resolution that would have recommended the granting of such status.

The proposal, submitted to the 15-member Council by Algeria, received 12 votes in favour, with the US casting a negative vote and Switzerland and the United Kingdom (UK) abstaining.

The UNSC resolution had required at least nine votes in favour and no vetoes from its five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — to pass.

“We believe, the time has come for admission of Palestine to the UN. This will be a step towards correcting the historic injustice suffered by Palestinians for over 75 years. It will affirm their right to self-determination,” she had remarked.

The spokesperson had said that the people of Palestine had their inherent right to live in a sovereign Palestinian state with the pre-1967 borders and Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

To a question, she had said the upcoming summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Gambia would consider several proposals including those on Palestine, Jammu and Kashmir as well as Islamophobia.

The spokesperson had said that during the recent visit of a high-powered Saudi delegation to Islamabad, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud had also called for de-escalation, immediate ceasefire, and lifting of the siege in Gaza.

The stumbling block in the implementation of the ceasefire is the Israeli occupation authorities, she had added.