Pakistan has strongly endorsed the United Nations Secretary-General’s latest report on Resolution 2334, describing the ongoing situation in Gaza as “shocking” and “unbearable.”
Speaking at a UN Security Council briefing on the Middle East and the Question of Palestine, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, cited the report’s grim observations, including the forced displacement of families into less than one-fifth of Gaza—areas that continue to face constant threat.
Highlighting the worsening humanitarian catastrophe, Ambassador Asim noted that malnutrition is taking a deadly toll on children. In May alone, over 5,100 children aged between six months and five years were treated for acute malnutrition, following repeated warnings from UNICEF. Since the end of the temporary ceasefire in March, more than 6,500 additional lives have been lost.
He stressed that the Secretary-General’s report raised serious concerns about Israel’s conduct of warfare and reaffirmed the urgent need for accountability for atrocity crimes and violations of international law.
Criticizing the newly introduced aid distribution mechanism, the ambassador said it violates international humanitarian norms and endangers starving civilians, who are forced to cross active conflict zones to access aid. “This is a death trap,” he quoted the Secretary-General as saying, noting that more than 500 people have died while trying to reach humanitarian relief.
He further said the violence extends beyond Gaza, with Israel escalating military raids, expanding illegal settlements, and enabling settler violence across the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Citing UN OCHA data, he reported that between 7 October 2023 and 19 June 2025, at least 949 Palestinians, including 200 children, were killed in the West Bank, and over 40,000 forcibly displaced—marking the largest displacement since 1967.
Ambassador Asim warned that the Security Council’s failure to implement its own resolutions damages its credibility and threatens global peace. As the UN marks the 80th anniversary of its Charter, he said its principles—justice, peace, and sovereign equality—are being “trampled upon with impunity” in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
He urged the Security Council not to remain a bystander, calling for a just and lasting solution rooted in addressing the root cause: ending the illegal Israeli occupation of Arab territories.
