NEW YORK: Pakistan has stated that the UN Secretary General’s report on the implementation of the resolution 2334 (Israeli illegal settlements on the occupied Palestinian territories) describes the levels of “suffering” and “brutality” in Gaza as “shocking” and “unbearable.”
Making a statement during the UN Security Council’s briefing on the Middle East, including the Question of Palestine, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, referred to the words of the Secretary-General, who said in the report that “families have been displaced again and again and are now confined to less than one-fifth of Gaza’s land. And even these shrinking spaces are under threat.”
Ambassador Asim said that children are dying of malnutrition despite repeated warning from UNICEF that malnourishment is rising at an “alarming rate.” He said that in May alone, over 5,100 children between six months and five years of age were admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition. Since the collapse of the temporary ceasefire in March, more than 6,500 additional lives have been lost.
He said that the Secretary-General’s report also raises grave concerns about Israel’s means and methods of warfare and reiterates the urgent need for accountability for atrocity crimes and other violations of international law.
The Pakistan UN ambassador said that the so-called “new aid distribution mechanism” is not only contrary to international humanitarian law and human dignity, it places starving civilians in direct danger, forcing them to cross active combat zones in search of food and water. “The result is a grotesque cycle of horror: over 500 people have been killed while trying to access humanitarian aid. This is a death trap, as rightly described by the Secretary-General,” he added.
Iftikhar Ahmed said that the violence is not confined to Gaza. Rather, Israel has intensified its military raids, expanded illegal settlements, and enabled unchecked settler violence in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem,.
He said that according to OCHA, between 7 October 2023 and 19 June 2025, 949 Palestinians, including at least 200 children, have been killed in the West Bank, and over 40,000 forcibly displaced, the largest displacement since 1967.
Ambassador Asim warned that the failure to enforce the Council’s own decisions carries grave consequences for global peace and security and undermines the Security Council’s own authority and credibility.He said that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the UN Charter, a Charter that enshrines the principles of justice, peace, and the sovereign equality of all peoples.
“Yet, in Gaza and across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, we see the most fundamental tenets of that Charter continue to be trampled upon with impunity,” he emphasized. He asked the Security Council to not remain a bystander, highlighting that it is imperative to address and tackle the root cause to bring an end to the illegal Israeli occupation of the Arab territories.
