President Alvi calls for truce, humanitarian corridor for people of Gaza

By Asim Yasin

October 20, 2023

Palestinians look for survivors in the rubble of a building hit during Israeli bombardment in Khan Yunis on the southern Gaza Strip on October 19, 2023. — AFP

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi Thursday visited the Palestine embassy in Pakistan and expressed solidarity with the Palestinians being subjected to indiscriminate killings by Israel in Gaza.

He urged the international community to condemn Israel’s brutalities and its disproportionate reaction which killed thousands of innocent people in Gaza. He called for an immediate ceasefire and the opening up of a humanitarian corridor to send aid to the people lacking food, electricity and water.

The President also met the Ambassador of the Palestine State in Islamabad, Ahmed Jawad Rabei, and expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people on behalf of the Government and the people of Pakistan.

He said that Pakistan would always stand by Palestine and only accept a solution acceptable to the Palestinians.

Speaking on the occasion, President Alvi said that the United Nations should debate the atrocities that happened in Palestine, and the UNSC should pass a resolution to stop Israeli atrocities.

He said that such brutal actions have created more possibilities of hatred, leading to more wars, and the OIC should raise a strong voice for Palestine.

“On behalf of the Pakistani people, we condemn the brutalities in Gaza, the disproportionate reaction of Israel, and the apartheid for the last 30-40 years. We condemn that people are being brutalized and killed. The hospital in Gaza was bombed and more than 500 people died. All this creates more bitterness”, the President stated. The President underscored that war destroyed any possibility of peace, adding that walls were being raised to stop the Palestinian people from achieving a peaceful two-state solution.

He said that such walls would not withstand and would be breached by the people. “As long as a two-state solution is being suppressed, people will react”, he maintained.

The Palestinian Ambassador thanked the President for visiting the embassy during such difficult times. He termed Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide of the Palestinian people.

Earlier, the President also recorded his remarks in the condolence book of the Palestinian embassy and expressed his deep condolences to the people of Palestine and the families of the martyrs.