UNITED NATIONS — Pakistan has pledged to play an active and constructive role in the United States’ latest peace initiative for Gaza and the wider Middle East, as tensions continue to mount over Israel’s ongoing military campaign and settlement expansion.
Speaking at a UN Security Council session on the Middle East, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, said Islamabad welcomed the US-backed plan announced by President Donald Trump earlier this week. The proposal, developed in coordination with eight OIC and Arab states, outlines a ceasefire, hostage-prisoner exchanges, a phased Israeli withdrawal, Hamas disarmament, and the creation of a transitional authority led by an international body.
“We value this initiative and will participate in the consultative process with a spirit of responsibility and consensus,” Ahmad told Council members. “Our objective is clear: to help end the suffering of Palestinians and achieve a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace consistent with UN resolutions.”
Trump, speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, claimed they were “beyond very close” to a breakthrough deal, though much hinges on whether Hamas agrees to the framework.
At the Security Council, Ambassador Ahmad described the humanitarian toll in Gaza as unbearable, noting that more than 66,000 Palestinians mostly women and children have been killed in the violence. “Gaza is not only being bombed from the sky; its people are being starved on the ground,” he said, adding that homes, schools, and hospitals have been reduced to rubble.
The Pakistani envoy also sounded the alarm over Israel’s controversial E-1 settlement plan, which he described as “a direct assault on the two-state solution.” The plan, he warned, would sever East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, undermining the territorial continuity required for a viable Palestinian state. “Such actions are not only unjust but unlawful, in violation of international law and Security Council Resolution 2334,” he said.
Pakistan’s envoy called for an immediate ceasefire, lifting of the Gaza blockade, unrestricted humanitarian access, release of hostages and prisoners, and an end to forced displacement and settlement activity. He urged the Council to take “practical steps” to implement its own resolutions and to launch a credible political process leading to a sovereign Palestinian state on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
“The plight of the Palestinian people is one of the most heart-wrenching tragedies of our times,” Ahmad said, quoting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent remarks. “The people of Palestine cannot wait. The cause of peace, and the credibility of this Council, depend on what we do now.”
He concluded by reaffirming Pakistan’s position: “We will continue to stand by the people of Palestine, working with Council members and partners to secure a just and lasting peace in the region.”
