By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Tuesday issued its sharpest condemnation yet of Israel’s military operations in Lebanon, accusing Tel Aviv of violating international law, indiscriminately targeting civilians and undermining Beirut’s efforts to restore stability in a conflict that has already displaced nearly 700,000 people and killed hundreds.
The statement marked Islamabad’s most direct intervention in the widening Middle East crisis, which has drawn Lebanon into the fighting between Israel, Iran and the United States. The Foreign Office called on the international community to take “urgent action” to halt the Israeli offensive and demanded the immediate, full and unconditional withdrawal of Israeli forces from all occupied Lebanese territory.
“Pakistan condemns in the strongest terms Israel’s continued military aggression against Lebanon, resulting in the death of hundreds of civilians and the displacement of nearly half a million people,” the Foreign Office said in a statement. It described the actions as being “in contravention of international law” and warned that they “have the potential to further exacerbate the ongoing security and humanitarian crises in the region.” The Foreign Office added that Israel’s operations were “undermining the efforts of the government of Lebanon to ensure peace and stability in the country” and represented “continued violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Lebanon was pulled into the conflict earlier this month after the Lebanese group Hezbollah launched rockets and drones into Israel to avenge the killing of Iran’s former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The strikes ignited a fierce Israeli response that Lebanese authorities say has killed nearly 500 people. The World Health Organization reported a slightly lower toll of 486 dead and 1,313 injured, including 259 children.
Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF’s regional director, said in a statement that Israeli bombardment has forced nearly 700,000 people to flee their homes, a figure that underscores the scale of the humanitarian emergency unfolding in southern Lebanon and beyond. The Israeli military has poured additional troops into southern Lebanon since the fighting began, establishing what it has called forward defensive positions to guard against further Hezbollah attacks into northern Israel. The escalation forms part of the most intense period of hostilities between the United States, Israel and Iran in decades, with disruptions to energy supply routes already sending oil prices surging on global markets.
In its statement, the Foreign Office said it was calling on the international community to “take urgent action to end the Israeli military aggression, the indiscriminate targeting of civilians, and the continued violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” It repeated its demand for Israel to withdraw “from all occupied Lebanese territories immediately, fully, and unconditionally.”
The statement expressed Pakistan’s solidarity with the Lebanese people. “Pakistan expressed solidarity with brotherly people of Lebanon in the face of this aggression and will continue to support all efforts aimed at ensuring lasting peace in Lebanon as well as the wider region.” The Pakistani position reflects long-standing diplomatic ties between Islamabad and Beirut, as well as Islamabad’s consistent criticism of Israeli military actions in the region.
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