NA demands Israel withdraw from Gaza unconditionally

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly while expressing complete solidarity with Palestinians, on Monday demanded the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Israeli occupying forces from the Gaza Strip in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2735 (2024)”, in line with the United Nations Security Council. “

The National Assembly also urged the international community to take concrete steps toward recognition and admission of the State of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations. The House held a debate on Palestine and later adopted the joint resolution unanimously after suspending the question hour. Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq drew the attention of the House the parties’ chief whips who approached him with a suggestion to take up the important issue in the wake of fresh waves of Israeli attacks. After having a sense of the House, the Speaker was allowed to move a motion to suspend the business of the day to start a debate on the burning issue.

The NA resolution moved by Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazir Tarar said: “The House while recalling and reaffirming the resolution passed by this National Assembly on August 2, 2024, this House once again strongly condemns the ongoing heinous wave of atrocities by the Zionist Israeli regime. “This House expresses unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian brothers and sisters in their just struggle and reaffirms their inalienable right to self-determination and their motherland.” “It noted with utter disgust that the latest Israeli offensive which resumed on March 18, resulted in the killing of 1,600 innocent Palestinians, bringing the total toll to over 65,000 deaths in Gaza. The NA resolution rebuked severely the ruthless destruction of complete civic infrastructure, including housing, hospitals, schools and places of worship by the barbaric Israeli bombing. The House also expressed dismay over the persistent failure of the international community to stop Israeli aggression, and called urgently for an immediate, permanent, and comprehensive ceasefire, along with the delivery of uninterrupted and sustainable humanitarian assistance to the besieged and beleaguered Palestinians.”

Initiating debate in the House regarding Israeli atrocities in Palestine, Senator Azam Nazir Tarar said around 15,000 innocent Palestinians, including women and children, have so far been martyred. He added that 130,000 are critically injured, while the whereabouts of 15,000 people are not known. Tarar said October 7.2023 will be remembered in history as a black day when Israel launched the unannounced genocide of Palestinians, particularly those living in Gaza. Law Minister said Pakistan has always supported its Palestinian brethren and extended assistance in the form of food, medicines and other things to them.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Attaullah Tarar said a strong and unified message should be given from this house that the whole Pakistani nation is standing with their Palestinian brethren in this difficult time. He said that the green passport of Pakistan is very sacred to him as it has a special distinction of not being valid for Israel. The information minister said that around 200 Palestinian medical students have been airlifted to Pakistan and they have been given admission to different colleges in Pakistan along with boarding facilities. He highly praised Al Khidmat Foundation Pakistan of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) for sending hundreds of tonnes of relief goods for the displaced Palestinians. “I want to acknowledge contributions of this party which has no representation in the House and we may also have political differences with them,” he said.

He reiterated that Pakistan has consistently raised its voice against Israeli oppression. He said Israel is engaging in war crimes and violating international laws. Ataullah also regretted the speeches of some parliamentarians for political point scoring during the debate on the sensitive issue. Federal Minister Mustafa Kamal of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, said that the Government of Pakistan should airlift at least 100 Palestinian families with injured families to Pakistan.

PTI’s Barrister Gohar Ali Khan regretted that there was a division among political parties on the issue of Palestine as every party is separately staging protest demonstrations and rallies on this sensitive issue. PTI’s Ali Muhammad Khan also strongly condemned the brutal acts of Israeli forces calling for a strong stance from Pakistan and other Muslim states. The opposition member Sahibzada Hamid Raza said that the entire Ummah was also responsible for the genocide of Palestinians due to their criminal silence. He asked, “Whether there is any strategy of the Muslim states after killings of around 70,000 people of Palestine.” He also talked about the establishment of a 41-nation Islamic military alliance headed by former army chief General Raheel Sharif back in 2017 and sought to know where was the alliance at this critical juncture. Hamid Raza said the total population of Israel was eight million while the number of army troops from Islamic countries was six million. He was of the view that an ultimatum should be given by the Islamic world to Israel.

In his speech, PPP Parliamentarian’s (PPPP) Abdul Qadar Patel said that PPP’s founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had ruled out any compromise on Kashmir and Palestine issues. “Our party’s manifesto is based on Kashmir and Palestine issues,” he said. He recalled that during the PTI’s rule, a PTI MNA called for recognizing Israel in the House. He regretted that no explanation was sought and no action was taken against the member making many believe it was the party’s policy. He also pointed out that a Pakistani political party supported an election campaign in the UK for a Jewish candidate, calling it a troubling contradiction amidst Israel’s continued oppression. Patel also said lawmakers from Israel and the United States were seeking the release of Imran Khan.

Discussing the controversial canal project in Cholistan, Patel, said that a prime minister in 2018 laid the foundation of a canal from the Indus River. He said that the PTI government was thrown out of power through a constitutional no-confidence move. He said saying the toppled regime had rolled back CPEC, compromised on the Kashmir issue and delivered pro-Israel speeches. The PPPP MNA regretted that the PTI parliamentarians stayed away from meetings of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security as they had no courage to face a few people sitting in the National Assembly.