Pakistan vows active support for US peace plan for Palestine at UN
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, told Council members that Islamabad would actively engage in the consultative process to support a sustainable resolution.
“We value President Donald Trump’s initiative, working alongside eight OIC and Arab countries to advance peace through concrete measures,” Ahmad said, addressing a briefing on the Middle East, including the Question of Palestine (SCR 2334).
“As a participant in this consultative process, Pakistan will remain closely engaged and play a constructive role in promoting consensus,” Ahmad added, emphasizing that the goal is to ease the suffering of Palestinians and achieve a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace in line with UN resolutions.
President Trump announced on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to a US-backed peace plan for Gaza, even as Israeli forces continue one of their fiercest offensives in the Palestinian enclave.
The proposal calls for a ceasefire and the release of hostages, though its success will depend on Hamas’s willingness to participate.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Netanyahu, Trump said they were “beyond very close” to achieving a peace deal and expressed hope that Hamas would also accept it.
The White House released Trump’s 20-point plan, which includes a ceasefire, a hostage swap between Hamas and Israel, a phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, Hamas disarmament, and a transitional government led by an international body.
During the UNSC session, Ambassador Ahmad noted that for over two years, the Council has been addressing the unbearable tragedy unfolding in Gaza and the wider Palestinian territory.
He highlighted the growing suffering of Palestinians, quoting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif: “The plight of the Palestinian people is one of the most heart-wrenching tragedies of our times.”
More than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed, the majority of them women and children, Ahmad said, adding, “Gaza is not only being bombed from the sky; its people are being starved on the ground. Homes, schools, and hospitals have been reduced to rubble.”
The expansion of military operations in Gaza City is a catastrophe in real time, risking the forced displacement of nearly a million people with no safe refuge left, he stressed.
He also highlighted ongoing threats to the two-state solution, particularly the E-1 settlement plan.
“The E-1 settlement plan is a direct assault on the two-state framework, threatening to sever East Jerusalem from Palestinian areas and dismantle the contiguity of the West Bank. Such policies are not only unjust; they are unlawful,” the ambassador said.
"They violate international law and Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 2334, which declared settlements illegal and demanded an immediate halt,” Ahmad said, warning that continued defiance undermines the Council’s credibility.
The ambassador outlined Pakistan’s calls to the Security Council, including an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, lifting the blockade, unimpeded humanitarian access, release of hostages and prisoners, an end to forced displacement and settlement activity, and practical steps to implement Resolution 2334.
He also urged the launch of a credible political process leading to a sovereign and viable Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
“The people of Palestine cannot wait. The cause of peace and the credibility of this Council depend on what we do in this moment.
"Pakistan will continue to stand with the people of Palestine, and to work with Council members and other partners towards a just and lasting peace for all in the region,” Ahmad concluded.
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