Daily Times

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said the plight of the Gazans was a “mockery” of the international community and in stark contrast to the idea of global unity and justice days after Israeli forces killed another 18 people in strikes on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza.

The Pakistan prime minister said this while addressing the first virtual session of the Summit of the Future at the United Nations (UN) in New York, where he spoke about the ongoing Israeli military actions in Gaza.

The statement came after an Israeli attack flattened part of the UN-run Al-Jawni school in Nuseirat on Wednesday. UNRWA said six of its staff were killed in two Israeli strikes on the school, drawing global condemnation.

“Today, in times of unprecedented global challenges and escalating conflicts, we are at risk of permanently damaging the notion of we,” PM Sharif said in his virtual address. “A collective we that requires a degree of justice. The plight of the people of Gaza is a mockery of this we.”

Israel launched a war on Gaza on Oct. 7 after Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israeli military campaign has since demolished swathes of the besieged enclave, killed more than 40,500 people, displaced nearly all of its 2.3 million people multiple times, and given rise to deadly hunger and disease.

Pakistan does not recognize the state of Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, the South Asian country has repeatedly raised the issue at the UN and demanded international powers and multilateral bodies stop Israeli military actions. Pakistan has also dispatched several aid consignments for the Palestinians.

Speaking further, Sharif warned the prevailing global issues could undermine the sense of unity between countries, saying the world was facing significant problems that were straining international relations and cooperation.

“This we becomes marred amidst rising debt burdens for the poor, increasing poverty, growing inequality, intolerance, terrorist violence, illegal foreign occupation and a skewed approach to climate adaptation,” he added.

He called for significant reforms in the international financial framework to achieve sustainable developmental goals for economically weak nations. This required enhanced concessional financing, increased official development assistance, and greater lending from multilateral development banks, he added.