ISLAMABAD: The UN Human Rights Council adopted today the OIC resolution entitled “Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the Obligation to ensure accountability and Justice” with a majority of votes in favor.
The resolution was presented by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Bilal Ahmed.
The resolution emphasized the need to prevent and punish incitement to genocide in Gaza. It called for enhanced focus on International Court of Justice’s ruling on the illegality of Israel’s occupation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
The resolution condemned Israel’s illegal actions against Palestinians, including sexual violence against women and girls.
It called for ending impunity and instituting accountability for grave breaches of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The war in Gaza, which began in October 2023, has persisted despite multiple international efforts to broker a ceasefire. The Palestinian death toll, according to latest figures, has exceeded 50,000, with women and children making up a large share of the casualties.
Thousands remain missing under the rubble of buildings destroyed in Israeli airstrikes. In parallel, there have been mounting reports of harassment, arbitrary detentions, and even sexual assaults against Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“Over the past eighteen months, the Palestinian people under occupation have faced horror upon horror,” Pakistan’s top diplomat at the UN mission in Geneva, Ambassador Bilal Ahmed, told the Council. “Whether in the desolate Gaza Strip or the West Bank including East Jerusalem, this Council has borne witness to a litany of crimes that demand justice.”
Ahmed said the resolution reflects the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion from July 2024, which declared Israel’s continued presence in the Palestinian territories illegal.
It also incorporates findings by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the widespread and systematic use of sexual violence against Palestinians, particularly women and girls.
The resolution emphasizes the need to prevent and punish “incitement to genocide in Gaza,” in line with the ICJ’s provisional measures issued in January 2024.
It further calls for the establishment of an independent mechanism to assist in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the most serious crimes under international law.
“We have long known that impunity for human rights violations enables more and worse violations,” Ahmed said. “The adoption of this resolution would signal the strong resolve of this Council to end impunity for serial violators. For the Palestinian people, it would be the light at the end of an unimaginably dark tunnel.”
Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva confirmed later that the resolution was adopted by an overwhelming majority.
In the meanwhile, the Government of Pakistan in the strongest possible terms condemns the continued aggression and atrocities committed by Israeli occupying forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in Gaza.
The indiscriminate violence has claimed thousands of innocent Palestinian lives, including women, children, medical personnel, and humanitarian workers, marking yet another dark chapter in Israel’s brutal occupation.
Pakistan denounces Israel’s latest military offensive aimed at establishing new security corridors, including the illegal seizure of the Morag Corridor and further annexation of Palestinian land.
The deliberate targeting of a UN-run clinic in Jabalia, which sheltered over 700 displaced civilians, demonstrates Israel’s blatant disregard for international law and humanitarian principles. These actions, coupled with Israel’s clear intent to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their homeland, constitute war crimes under international law.
Of particular concern is the sacrilegious storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex by Israeli occupying forces, during the holy occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr. This provocative act not only violates the sanctity of one of Islam’s holiest sites but also demonstrates Israel’s determination to escalate tensions and pursue its expansionist agenda at the expense of regional peace.
The massive destruction of civilian infrastructure and forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians through relentless bombardment and ground operations are both morally reprehensible and legally indefensible. Such blatant violations of international law must stop forthwith.
Pakistan reaffirms its unwavering support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and calls for the establishment of an independent, viable and contiguous Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
The international community must act decisively to prevent further loss of innocent lives and preserve the sanctity of holy sites.
