Attacks undermine international efforts to achieve lasting peace and stability in the region
Police officers stand guard at the main entrance gate of the Ministry of External Affairs in Islamabad. Photo: Archive
Pakistan condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the attacks by the Israeli occupation forces throughout Gaza, which have reportedly caused the death of several Palestinian civilians, including women and children, and left many more injured.
In a statement on Sunday, the Foreign Office (FO) said: Such actions constitute a flagrant violation of international law, relevant UN resolutions and the recently concluded peace agreement in Sharm El-Sheikh.
These attacks also undermine international efforts to achieve lasting peace and stability in the region.
The Government of Pakistan reiterates its call on the international community to take immediate measures to end impunity and violations of the Israeli ceasefire and to respect international humanitarian and human rights law.
Pakistan reaffirms its principled position in favor of the establishment of an independent, sovereign, viable and contiguous State of Palestine, based on the pre-June 1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
Read: 22 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza despite ceasefire
Earlier, 22 Palestinians were killed on Saturday in a series of Israeli airstrikes that hit homes and a vehicle in several areas of the Gaza Strip, in a new violation of the ceasefire in force since October 10.
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said in a video statement that women, children and the elderly were among the victims of the attacks that destroyed entire buildings.
It said five people were killed and others wounded after an Israeli drone strike targeted a civilian vehicle near the Abbas crossing in western Gaza City.
In the same city, four Palestinians were killed when an Israeli strike hit a house on al-Labbabidi Street.
Read more: 22 dead in new Israeli attacks in Gaza
In the central Gaza Strip, Bassal said two Palestinians were killed and others wounded when an Israeli strike targeted a house near the Bilal bin Rabah mosque in western Deir al-Balah.
In the Nuseirat refugee camp, three Palestinians were killed when an Israeli strike hit a house next to Al-Awda hospital.
Additionally, in Nuseirat, seven Palestinians were killed after an Israeli strike hit a house in Camp 2.
Bassal did not specify where the additional deaths occurred.
Israeli forces also shot and wounded three Palestinians near the al-Bureij camp in central Gaza and Jabalia in the north, medics said.
The Israeli army said in a statement that its forces had “eliminated” a gunman after he allegedly crossed the yellow line.
At dawn, Israeli forces also carried out strikes on areas east of al-Bureij and Deir al-Balah, as well as eastern Rafah and Khan Younis in the south, as well as parts of the Tuffah and Shujaiya neighborhoods in eastern Gaza City.
The casualties occurred when the Israeli army blew up buildings and residential facilities through airstrikes and detonations of booby-trapped vehicles in the eastern parts of Rafah and Khan Younis, which lie under the Israeli-controlled yellow zone in the southern Gaza Strip.
Also read: Israeli attack near Ramallah kills two Palestinian teenagers
Similar airstrikes and explosions were reported in the Al-Tuffah and Shujaiya neighborhoods, as well as artillery shelling and occasional gunfire from Israeli military vehicles positioned on the edge of the yellow zone, witnesses said.
On Friday, the Israeli army attacked Palestinian buildings in army-controlled areas in Khan Younis, Gaza City, the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza and the Jabalia refugee camp in the north.
Israel continues to occupy more than 50% of the Gaza Strip under the ceasefire agreement, with the “yellow line” separating areas under army deployment from those inhabited by Palestinians.
Recently, the Israeli army again intensified its attacks east of the yellow line, destroying vast areas and making nearby areas very dangerous for civilians.
Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed nearly 70,000 people in Gaza, mainly women and children, injured more than 170,800, and reduced the enclave to rubble. The assault was stopped thanks to a ceasefire agreement that came into effect on October 10.
