Pakistan calls for Gaza ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal to keep US-backed peace plan on track

• Pakistan warns against settlement expansion, saying it threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state
• It calls for an end to the Israeli occupation of all Arab territories, including in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday demanded a complete ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, condemning its continued violations by Israeli forces and urging their withdrawal from the enclave to keep a United States-backed peace plan on track.

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly debate on the “Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine,” Pakistan’s envoy said his country would vote for the annual resolution, which reaffirms international backing for a two-state solution.

The statement came just a few weeks after the Security Council endorsed US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan, authorizing an international force for Gaza and recognizing a new transitional governance body.

“The Palestinian Authority’s role is central in this regard,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmed said. “Peace cannot be shaped without the direct involvement and ownership of the Palestinian people.”

“The ceasefire must be implemented fully, with no unilateral actions or military activity,” he added. “Withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza remains essential.”

Ahmed called on states to “build the momentum” created by the ceasefire announced at an international summit in Sharm El-Sheikh.

He called for full humanitarian access to Gaza, noting that with winter approaching and large parts of the area destroyed, the residents of the Palestinian enclave require sustained life-saving support.

“Any obstruction of aid violates international humanitarian law and must not be allowed under any pretext,” he said.

Reconstruction, he added, must begin without delay.

Ahmed said there must be no annexation, no forced displacement and no division of occupied lands, stressing that Gaza’s territorial integrity and its contiguity with the West Bank were “fundamental to a viable, sovereign and independent Palestinian state.”

He added that settlement activity, including efforts to alter the demographic or legal character of occupied areas around Al-Haram Al-Sharif, was illegal and must end.

The Pakistani envoy also highlighted the need for accountability, arguing that “without justice, there can be no durable peace.”

“To break the cycle of violence,” he continued, “it is necessary to end the Israeli occupation of all Arab territories, including in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.”

Pakistan was part of a group of eight Muslim countries whose leaders met Trump in New York in September to push for an immediate ceasefire and a political roadmap for Gaza.

More than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in the Palestinian territory in a little over two years of war.

Israel has also faced widespread accusations of genocide from international community and rights groups during this period.