Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon, while speaking in the General Assembly, said that Israeli defiance of international community on the issue of settlement activity and the high level of impunity is destroying the peace process and inflicting innumerable hardships on the Palestinian people under its illegal occupation.
According to the press release issued here on Thursday, Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon while speaking on the situation in the Middle East and the question of Palestine called upon Israel to immediately stop building new settlements or using settlement activity as a political tool in the peace process. He said Israeli defiance of the international community on the issue of settlement activity and the high level of impunity is destroying the peace process and inflicting innumerable hardships on the Palestinian people under its illegal occupation.
Ambassador Haroon said the complete withdrawal of Israel forces from the occupied Palestinian territory, and all other occupied Arab territories, including the Syrian Golan, as well as parallel progress on the Syria-Israel and Lebanon-Israel tracks are essential to achieve comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East.
He said, “People of all races and religions in the Middle East have suffered for the last six decades. Two generations in the region have completed their respective life-cycles in shadows of violence and insecurity. Only our firm resolve, concerted action and above-all political will to build lasting peace can save the succeeding generations from tragedies and tribulations of their ill-fated predecessors”.
The Ambassador further said that sustained and meaningful engagement of the international community is imperative to break the present stalemate.
“It would be important for the international community to work on freezing all Israeli settlement activity, helping Palestinians to strengthen state-building institutions as well as ensuring progress on the UN membership status”.