By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Senate unanimously adopted a resolution on Tuesday condemning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments about forging alliances with India and other countries to counter what he called radical Muslim axes.
The resolution, moved by Pakistan Peoples Party senator Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan, deplored continued provocative statements and steps by Israeli leaders that it said threatened regional and international peace and stability. It also denounced Israel’s recognition of the breakaway Somaliland region of Somalia as an independent state and its actions in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Addressing a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel would create “an entire system — essentially a kind of hexagon of alliances — around or within the Middle East”, according to The Times of Israel. He listed India, Greece and Cyprus, along with unnamed Arab, African and Asian countries. “The intention here is to create an axis of countries that see reality, the challenges, and the goals in the same way, in contrast to the radical axes,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying. He referred to both the “radical Shia axis, which we have hit very hard,” and “the emerging axis — the radical Sunni axis.” The Indian prime minister is scheduled to visit Israel this week.
The Senate resolution rejected any Israeli attempts to undermine the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Islamic countries. It specifically condemned Israel’s announcement on Dec. 26 recognising Somaliland, a move that drew condemnation from Pakistan, 20 other nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
The upper house also condemned in the strongest terms Israel’s continued violations of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza and its disregard for international law, the UN Charter, relevant UN General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, and the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice. Lawmakers took strong exception to what they described as the Israeli leadership’s efforts to diminish the unity of the Muslim world on political and ideological grounds.
The resolution rejected any attempts to change the legal or historical status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including holy sites; to enforce new legal or administrative realities in the occupied West Bank; to expand illegal settlement activities; or to encourage settler violence and the forcible displacement of Palestinians. It urged the international community to end Israeli impunity and hold the country accountable for its crimes against humanity and provocative actions that pose a threat to all regional countries.
The Senate called for full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories, increased, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza, including through the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and an early start to recovery and reconstruction efforts there. The resolution reaffirmed Pakistan’s historic and unwavering support for the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and for the establishment of an independent, viable and contiguous State of Palestine based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
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